The Beginning of the Storm
by hurricane55
Summary: Currently being rewritten as Like a Phoenix. Read that one, its much better
1. The Arrival

disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter. Never will own Harry Potter. I only own what I make up from scratch in this story.

**The Beginning of the Storm, a Harry Potter fan-fic**

Quick Plot Summary: After the events of fourth year, a mysterious American teenage wizard shows up at Privet Drive while Harry is depressed over the rise of Voldemort, the lack of news from Ron and Hermione, and the death of Cedric. Will become somewhat AU as the story progresses, but tries to stay as canon as possible in terms of character traits and actions. Reviews appreciated, and I hope you like it.

_Added AN: The first four chapters are really short, and are basically intro for the story. So the meat of the story begins on chapter five._

**Chapter One: The Arrival**

Harry James Potter slept in his bed, in a small bedroom in a home with his Uncle Vernon, his Aunt Petunia, and his cousin Dudley. Harry was a tall wiry youth with messy black hair, emerald green eyes, and glasses. He had a lightning bolt shaped scar on his head, which was the result of an encounter with the dark wizard, Voldemort. Screaming, Harry shot up, clutching his scar. He had just suffered through another nightmare where he watched Cedric Diggory, a fellow Hogwarts student, murdered on the orders of Harry's arch-enemy. Harry's breath began to slow down, and he started to calm down, saying to himself that it was just another dream. This event had really happened in June. Harry was competing in the Tri-Wizard tournament, when he and Cedric had grasped the champions cup at the same time, and they had been portkeyed straight into a trap laid by Voldemort and his servant Barty Crouch Jr. Crouch had been masquerading as the famed Auror Mad-Eye Moody, which allowed him to turn the cup into a portkey, and also enabled him to make sure Harry touched the cup first. After reliving those horrible moments again for the countless time, Harry stood up, and opened his window, as he wanted to let some air into his room. The room was very plain, with a bed, desk, chair, lamp. Nothing in the room showed Harry's identity as a wizard. This was because he had hid all of his wizarding supplies from the Dursleys under a loose floorboard. This was because his aunt and uncle hated wizards, and would lock up all his supplies during the summer. Another thing weighing heavily on Harry's mind was the lack of news about his enemy, Lord Voldemort. Harry had been watching the news and nicking newspapers out of the trash, desperate to find out about murders, or odd disappearances. But, Harry had not had the fortune of acquiring any information to the whereabouts of his foe. As Harry sat by the window, his only friend that he was able to see while staying at 4 Privet Drive, his snowy owl Hedwig, flew in and almost crashed into Harry.

Harry looked at his faithful owl and whispered to it, "Let me take a look at what you have got there, Hedwig." Hedwig clicked her beak, gave Harry an affectionate nip, and dropped the note. Harry picked it up, and began to read:

_Harry Potter,_

_The Order of the Phoenix has asked me to talk to you. In case you do not know, this is the anti-Voldemort movement led by Albus Dumbledore. Right now, I'm standing outside your window, and I'm starting to get impatient..._

_Xavier Dalton_

Harry re-read the note, and thought to himself, "Is this Order of the Phoenix real, or is it a trick? It could be a man of Voldemort's looking to lure me out and kill me… If he is trying to trick me, I will make sure he has no chance to attack." Harry rolled out of bed, and reached down and pulled up the loose floorboard up, and pulled out his invisibility cloak, wand, and pocket sneakoscope. Putting the cloak on, Harry snuck silently outside, where he spied a man hiding in one of his aunt Petunia's favorite hydrangeas. Harry called out to the man, "Xavier, why are you here? Are you really from this Order that you speak of?" Xavier walked out, and Harry saw that Xavier was about three inches taller than he was, and also had messy hair, much like his own. Xavier stepped into the light on the front door and Harry could see that he was wearing a black and white striped collar shirt, ripped cargo shorts that were down past his knees, and a backwards fitted baseball cap with a B logo on it. Xavier was also wearing leather sandals, and a gold necklace with a cross on it. Harry almost mistook him for Cedric Diggory, but then Harry sadly realized that he looked slightly different, and that Cedric Diggory was, in fact, dead. Harry saw that he was thin and muscular, but not excessively so. Harry was shocked that Xavier was about his own age, he expected a fully grown adult wizard from the note he had recieved. Harry asked Xavier, "How old are you and what are you doing on Privet Drive?" Xavier spread his hands out wide, and spoke for the first time, "Hey, Harry. I'm Xavier Dalton, sixteen year old wizard from America, so I'm your elder by one year, as of an hour ago at least. So, Happy Birthday, Harry." Harry looked at his watch and saw that it was 1:05, and he realized that he was now fifteen. Xavier continued, "As for what I am doing here; I am here as a favor to the Order of the Phoenix, who happened to save my life. They just wanted me to tell you what was going on, and some basic information about the Order. I moved here from America, and intend to stay here in England to attend Hogwarts."

"Order of the Phoenix???" Harry inquired. He had never heard of this order before, and he was not completely convinced that Xavier was telling the truth.

"What, you have never heard of the Order before? You of all people should know about the Order. Anyways, so the Order is a bunch of people who banded together to stop Voldemort the last time he was ascending to power. Your parents were members, and Dumbledore was the leader. He in fact, is still the leader. And about an hour after you escaped from Voldemort in the graveyard, the Order reconvened and it is currently working on preventing Voldemort's army from gaining the numbers it did last time. But don't mention to anyone that I'm telling you this much, cause Dumbledore didn't want you to hear the full story yet. And the Order is also working on recruiting new members, as they lost many of their best witches and wizards in the first war against Voldemort. But, that is a challenge because the Ministry refuses to tell the truth about his return. And that's pretty much it. Any questions?"

Harry had just stood and listened to Xavier speak. He had an odd feeling about the wizard based on his talk and appearance. Harry was very interested in what Xavier had to say, and was so elated to finally hear news on the Voldemort situation, that he didn't think of all the questions he could have asked, but instead said, "What school did you go to in America, Xavier?"

Xavier answered, "I'm from Boston, but I have completed four years so far at Los Angeles Academy of Magic, or LAA for short. But I decided to jump ship and continue my education in England, and I planned on staying with my uncle. My parents weren't too pleased, but they'll deal with it. So, I kinda have to leave now, but someone from the Order will be coming to pick you up and take you to Headquarters in two days. Later, Harry." Before Harry could respond, Xavier turned, jumped in a parked car, and drove off. Puzzled and dazed, Harry walked back to his room and whispered to Hedwig, "What an interesting character. I'll talk to him in two days when we go to where the Order is based." Harry rolled over, tucked himself in, and fell asleep.


	2. The Attack

**Chapter Two: The Attack**

He was going to leave at midnight tonight. He was going to the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. He was going to be leaving Privet Drive. These were the only thought that comforted Harry as he sat on a swing in the park by his house. The park was run down, and the Harry was sitting on the only swing still working properly, and he looked around at the rust covered play implements nearby. He sat reflecting on the past four years, since he had known the truth about his past. Some moments were happy for Harry, but others made him want to cry. His last thought, before his world was to be turned upside down was looking forward to returning to Hogwarts, where he would be able to do magic again. As he sat on that rusted swing, Harry heard familiar voices through the park fence that he really did not want to hear.

"Nice hook, Dud."

"See you later, Big D."

"We are going to your house tomorrow, right Gordon."

"Definitely, Duds"

As the other members of Dudley's gang broke off, Dudley Dursley began to walk through the park, towards Harry. Harry enjoyed taunting Dudley, who feared magic. Harry could see that his cousin was smoking a cigarette. Harry called out, "Who got it today, Big D? a six year old?"

Dudley ran over, and responded, "He was actually ten, Potter. And he deserved it. He was giving me cheek. He said I looked like a pig."

Harry chuckled and pointed out to his portly cousin "That isn't cheek Ickle Diddykins, that's the truth."

Dudley responded by pointing at Harry's drawn wand and saying, "You don't have the guts to take me on without that thing, do you?" As he said this, the stars went out, and the night turned colder. Dudley believed that Harry was the cause of this event and started to whimper, "Wh-what are you do-doing?" Harry responded, "I'm not doing anything, even wizards cannot turn out the stars…" Just as he said this, Harry felt an icy cold come over him, and he began to her his mother's final cries. Harry just had enough time to mutter, "Ruddy dementors…" Harry grabbed Dudley, and they began to run. Harry was in good shape, as he was used to running from Dudley and his gang, but his overweight cousin could not keep up. When Dudley ran out of energy, he simply fell over, onto the abandoned road. Harry looked around, for a sign of the dementors that were chasing them. Harry didn't see any of the monstrosities, and ran back to his cousin and tried to get him up.

"Come on, Dudley, you have got to get up. We have to get out of here." Harry tried to pull his cousin up, but he was just too heavy. When Harry least expected it, he felt the icy cold he looked up, and saw two of the cloaked monstrosities coming towards him and Dudley. He sank to his knees filled with sadness and horror over his worst memories, and tried to use his Patronus, but the stag guardian wouldn't come. Harry could not think of a happy enough memory to summon the charm. Filled with despair, Harry could see out of the corner of his eye that his cousin was about to be kissed, and Harry could feel the dementor lifting him, and preparing to kiss him. Just then, Harry saw a flash of light, and a red convertible with white racing stripes roared up to where he was, a man jump out, and a gecko Patronus charge and knock the two dementors away. Just before Harry fainted, he looked up into the man's face and breathed, "Thanks, Xavier. I owe you one…But how?"

When Harry came to, he was in the front seat of the Xavier's car, and Xavier was driving fast down the empty road. Dudley was laid across the back. Xavier saw Harry awaken and yelled over the radio, which was playing Lynard Skynard,

"Here, eat some chocolate. I'm glad you are ok. The Order would have been pretty ticked off if I let you die. Plus, from what I've seen at least, you seem like a good guy." Harry flushed red at this comment a little bit, and responded, "Nice car by the way… Mmmmm, this chocolate is really good. How did you manage to get here in time?" Harry looked down and read the wrapper which was brown and silver and labeled _Hershey's Milk Chocolate_.

"Yeah, thanks. It's a Shelby GT Mustang. They are really rare, but my dad knows a guy who works for Ford, so he got me one." Xavier stopped the car, and Harry noticed they were back at his aunt and uncle's house. Harry started to speak, to warn him about the Dursley family, but Xavier silenced him with a wave of his hand and said smoothly, "Don't worry, man. I got this handled. Your stuff is already in the trunk of the car, and we are going to headquarters after I drop off your cousin, and smooth things over with your relatives. By the way, I was following you the last couple of hours with a Disillusionment Charm on me and Shelby here. I've heard about your ability to find trouble anywhere, and Dumbledore asked me to keep an eye out on you today before I came and picked you up. Looks like he was right." Harry worried for a second about his friend's fate at the hands of his aunt and uncle, but realized he would be fine. As Vernon Dursley judged a man on his appearance and his car, the collar-shirt wearing, Mustang driving Xavier was Vernon's kind of man. Harry watched Xavier walk off into the house, supporting Dudley, who was still not capable of walking under his own power. After about ten minutes of friendly sounding talk, Xavier returned to his car, and laughed to Harry, commenting "They aren't as bad as Ron described them to me. Of course I didn't mention my _talents."_ Harry was shocked by this and yelled, "You know Ron!?!?"

Xavier replied, "Of course I know Ron. The Weasleys and Hermione Granger are waiting for you at the Order headquarters…"

Harry was even more surprised at this but just sat, listening to the loud rock on the car radio. Xavier would occasionally tell him something about himself, or ask Harry random questions about the English wizarding world, and the conversation took place in brief fragments as Xavier sped down the highway. Harry was exhausted from his near-death experience and was about to fall asleep when Xavier whispered to him between songs, "Listen, we are almost there. Take this note and read it."

Harry took the note and read it, recognizing Dumbledore's handwriting, and saw "_The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix is located at 12 Grimmauld Place."_

Harry was puzzled at the note as he got out of the car, as he only saw 11 and 13 Grimmauld Place, but no 12. Xavier laughed at the puzzled look on Harry's face, but said kindly, "Concentrate on what you just read." As soon as Harry did this, a large house, numbered 12, popped out between 11 and 13, and nudged the other two houses over. Xavier grabbed Harry's trunk easily, and Harry took his Firebolt out of the trunk. Harry opened the door and saw four of his favorite people rushing towards him: Sirius Black, his godfather, Hermione Granger, his intelligent friend, Ron Weasley, his red haired best mate, and Molly Weasley, Ron's mother, and the closest thing Harry had to a mother of his own. And for the first time that summer, Harry felt happy to be home.

_AN: I am planning to make this story last years five, six, seven, and have a conclusion, so there will be plenty of more exciting action. The first five or six chapters will be short and filled with dialouge, as I am trying to advance to story and the characters. I expect around 50 chapters or so total, and will try to update once or twice a week. Hope you like the story so far._


	3. The Order of the Phoenix

**Chapter Three: The Order of the Phoenix**

Harry stood in the doorway as the people who he thought of as his family rushed towards him, and Xavier whispered into his ear, "Looks like some people are happy to see you, Harry. I must speak to Dumbledore, but I am sure Ron and Hermione will tell you anything you need to know." Xavier walked off through another doorway as Hermione jumped on to Harry and shrieked, "HARRY! Oh, Harry, are you alright, if it wasn't for Xavier, I don't know what would have happened…" Hermione was holding Harry so tight that he could barely breathe, and Ron pointed this out saying, "Let him breathe, Hermione. Or are you trying to do him in for the dementors?" Harry laughed at this, but Hermione turned red and released Harry and turned to Ron and began to scold him half-heartedly for his bad humor. But Ron simply turned to Harry, and said, "How ya been mate? When we go up to our room, I'll tell you everything that you need to know about the Order of the Phoenix." Harry was relieved to be finally hearing more about the Order, and laughing, he said to Ron, "Great, no more rummaging through dustbins for papers to find about Voldemort."

Harry then turned to Mrs. Weasley, who trapped Harry in an even tighter hug than the one that Hermione had given him. Mrs. Weasley held him for a moment, and then said to Harry,

"I'll have supper ready in a few minutes. Ron will show you to your room, and you can bring your broom up. Xavier brought your trunk up already."

Harry turned back to Ron and asked, "Whose place is this anyway? It looks gloomy…"

"Ah, Prongs Jr. this house is mine. It is the old Black manor. I offered to Dumbledore to use as headquarters." Sirius Black, alias Padfoot and Harry's godfather, had just stepped into the light where Harry could see him.

"Sirius," Harry yelled, "How have you been? Are you working in the order too?"

Sirius tried to keep his voice as cheerful as possible, but Harry could notice a slight touch of bitterness as he began to speak. "I am doing all right cub, but I can't really do much for the Order because I cant be seen outside of the house. The whole fugitive thing makes it tough to help. I can't exactly go out into the streets and handout leaflets, can I, Harry?"

Harry began to laugh, and Sirius, Ron, and Hermione began to join in. Sirius then continued, "There is one thing that I can do for the Order though. This house has been deserted for nearly fifteen years now. We have to make it livable and usable for the Order. While it is one of the most secure houses in the wizarding world, it is nearly inhospitable. All sorts of creatures have moved in, and the amount of mold is shocking. So that's our job, Harry. Cleaning the house."

Harry could sense that Sirius was trying to be cheerful, but he again noticed the bitterness about not being able to fight. Sirius walked out of the room, through the same doorway Xavier had snuck out through. As he watched his godfather leave, Harry thought of something Hermione said, and asked her, "How did you know about the dementor attack anyway? Xavier never left me and we were driving the whole time I was out. So how was the order alerted?"

As he said this, Hermione was reaching into her pocket and pulled out a small, pink electronic device. She said to Harry, "I've got a cellphone, Harry. And so does Xavier. He called me when you were still unconscious. That's how the order was alerted to the attack."

Ron still looked very puzzled, but Harry knew what a cellphone was, as his aunt and uncle had them. Hermione explained to Ron, "You know what a telephone is, right?" When Ron nodded, she continued "Well, a cellphone is basically a small telephone that you can call people with. You can also send people small bits of text. Here, I'll show you what I mean." Ron looked fascinated as Hermione opened her cellphone, and began hitting buttons really fast. A minute or so later, Hermione's phone began to beep, and she said to Ron, "That means I have a text message." She opened her phone and showed Ron, who read the text out loud,

"So Ron has never seen a cellphone before. Odd. I guess wizards in England don't use as much Muggle technology as American wizards do. Funny. Dumbledore finds the cellphone very interesting. Got to go, Xavier."

Ron turned to Harry, and said to him, "Bloody brilliant, Harry. I want one of those."

Harry laughed and responded, "Now I know what to get you for Christmas then…"

Just as he said this, the three of them heard Mrs. Weasley's loud voice, yelling at them that dinner was ready. The golden trio walked into the massive dining room and Harry looked at the large oaken table. Already sitting down were Sirius and his best friend, Remus Lupin. Next to Lupin was a young witch with pink hair. Across from her was Ron's sister, Ginny. Also sitting down were Fred and George Weasley, Ron's older twin brothers. Sitting next to them was a grubby looking man in old robes. Sitting across from Sirius was Bill Weasley, another of Ron's older brothers, and Mr. Weasley. Harry sat across from Lupin, Hermione sat across from the pink haired witch, and Ron sat near Fred, George, and the grubby looking wizard. As Harry began to sit down, a tall dark skinned wizard walked into the room, and Mrs. Weasley said, "Hello, Kingsley. Are you going to stay for dinner." The man called Kingsley answered, "Thanks, Molly, but I cannot stay. I have an important meeting about finding a certain fugitive who is hiding out at 12 Grimmauld Place."

Sirius laughed jovially, and remarked, "What are you going to tell them this time, that I am in America?"

Harry looked puzzled, and Lupin looked across at him and said, "Oh, Harry, that's Kingsley Shacklebolt. He is an Auror, and he is in charge of the hunt for Sirius here. He has been telling them that Sirius is hiding out in Tibet." Lupin realized that Harry did not know some of the others, and continued, "The young woman with the pink hair is another Auror, the youngest that is fully qualified. Her name is Nymphadora Tonks, but just call her Tonks. And the grubby looking man is Munndungus Fletcher, he is a crook, but a crook that's loyal to Dumbledore." Tonks and Fletcher looked towards Lupin at the mention of Harry, and Tonks said, "Wotcher, Harry. Has Lupin told you about my talent yet?" Seeing the puzzled look on Harry's face, Tonks continued, "See Harry, I am a Metamorphagus. This means I can change my appearance at will."

Harry was amazed, and watched as Tonks changed from herself, to Harry, to Lupin, to Ginny, and then back to herself. The food was amazing, and everyone around the table seemed to be in good spirits. As Harry was finishing his second helping of pudding, Harry could hear a voice that he recognized as the Potions professor, Severus Snape. "Mr. Dalton, you will be taking Potions this year whether you like it or not. It is a required class for all students 5th year and below. You sound just like Potter. Thinking that a bit of talent makes you better than everyone else."

Harry was not pleased about this analogy to himself. He was enraged at Snape, and apparently Xavier was as well, as he saw him slam the door on Snape, and walk in and join Harry, saying, "Well, I guess I'm stuck taking potions with that slimeball. I also have to get sorted with all of the puny first years. That's not the way I planned on making my first impression at the school."

Harry laughed at this, and was about to respond, when he heard Mrs. Weasley tell him and the other teens that it was time for bed. Harry walked up to his room, which he shared with Ron and got into bed, mulled over the days events for awhile, and eventually fell into a dreamless sleep for the first time in weeks.


	4. A Depressed Harry Potter

**Chapter Four: A Depressed Harry Potter:**

The next two weeks passed in a blur for Harry. Most of Harry's time was spent with Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred and George, Mrs. Weasley, and Sirius as they cleaned the headquarters, and made it fit to live in. Harry thought it was more of a battle against the house, as every cabinet and closet seemed to have deadly traps. And the house was being assisted by Kreacher the crazy house elf, who was attempting to smuggle Black family heirlooms out of the trashbags. And this job was'nt risk free; sometimes it was ver dangerous. Ron was almost throttled by a pair of old purple robes, but was saved by Mundungus, who happened to be helping with the cleaning that day. Tonks and Lupin would also occasionally help with the war, including one day repairing a grandfather clock that had the habit of shooting heavy iron bolts at whoever happened to pass it. Xavier would also be there most of the time, but would leave the house to do what he called, "stuff that's gotta be done". And he would usually add, "Plus, I have a life outside of cleaning killer houses, you know." Harry thought this odd, but didn't question further, as he had enough things on his mind. He was furious with how the _Daily Prophet _was casting him as an arrogant, lying, showoff, and how they portrayed Dumbledore as a senile old fool. Harry wasn't crazy, and Dumbledore wasn't an old fool, he was still one of the brightest wizards in the country. But the truth of these lies was that Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, could not accept the truth: that Lord Voldemort had returned. Harry also his own return to Hogwarts on his mind. He was beginning to worry about how his fellow students would treat him, after the events of last June, when he returned alone to the school with Cedric's body, telling everyone that the Dark Lord had risen once again. On the last day before the return to Hogwarts, booklists and Hogwarts letters arrived. Harry picked up Ron's and felt something heavy in it as he went to toss it to his best mate. Ron missed the catch, and a red and gold badge fell out. Ron picked it up and looked at it, shocked, muttering,

"I cant bloody believe it. I got chosen as a prefect." Harry had completely forgotten about the prefect badges being handed out in fifth year. He had been more focused on his life outside of school, and had completely forgotten about the badges. Harry said to Ron, "Can I see that? Nice job mate." Ron said, "Sure, Harry. I thought you would get the badge, not me."

Harry struggled to laugh, as he was feeling jealous towards Ron and mad at Dumbledore for not giving him a badge, and remarked, "Well, I guess I've caused too much trouble since I've been at school. Running around nearly getting killed, not the best qualities of a prefect." Just as Harry was examining Ron's badge, Hermione burst into the room, screaming, "Oh, you got it too, Harry. I knew you would. Wait until I tell Mom and Dad." Harry felt absolutely horrible now, as he turned away from his two friends, tossed the badge back to Ron, and whispered, "The badge isn't mine, its Ron's." Harry walked out of the room, leaving his two best friends to celebrate their accomplishment.

Harry was lost in his thoughts as he walked through the dusty and dark halls of 12 Grimmauld Place. As he walked, he felt himself walk into something soft, and he realized that he had collided with Ginny. Harry helped her up, and his face began to redden, as he mumbled, "Sorry about that, Gin. Didn't see you there. I was lost in my thoughts."

Ginny looked up into his face and could tell immediately that something was troubling Harry. As Harry turned to walk away, Ginny quickly blurted out, "Is there something wrong, Harry?"

Harry thought about it, and spoke quickly, "There's nothing wrong with me. What makes you think that something is wrong with me? I'm perfectly fine."

Ginny stifled a laugh with her hand, and stated in a voice that reminded Harry of Hermione giving an answer in class, "Harry, it sounds like that you are in denial about your problems. If you realize you need someone to talk to, I'll be in my room finishing some homework."

But before Harry could respond, Ginny had turned and walked around. Harry felt like he should follow her to her room, but stopped himself quickly. He had never sought out Ginny's company before. Although they had been spending a lot of time together during the summer, they had never really been alone in the same room before. As Harry started to mull these thoughts over, Xavier popped his head out of one of the many bedrooms and said, "You really need to talk to someone, man. And that someone is not me. I'm too tired and I really need some sleep. You have way too many problems to be keeping them all inside." As Harry turned to respond, Xavier closed his door, and Harry could hear him collapse on his bed exhausted. Harry was really starting to get annoyed at people talking to him and then leaving before he had a chance to respond. But a small voice inside Harry's head kept squeaking,

"_They're both right, you know. You need to talk to someone. Just do it, Harry. You'll feel better."_

After a minute or two of standing awkwardly in the hallway, Harry finally decided that it would be good from him to talk to Ginny. Harry walked through the gloomy halls and glanced around at all of the Black family portraits that would stare at him as he walked. When Harry reached the room that Ginny and Hermione shared, he knocked twice and yelled,

"Ginny? It's me, Harry. Can I come in?"

Harry heard a muffled voice that sounded like "Sure" come from Ginny's room, and Harry walked in. He looked around, and it was slightly less bleak than the room he share with Ron. He looked over at Ginny, who was lying on her bed, reading a book. She laughed and said, "History of Magic. Just started my reading now. Only 214 pages to go."

Harry walked over to her bed and asked, "Can I sit down? I need someone to talk to." Ginny motioned for him to sit, and so Harry started to talk. "Well, your brother got the prefect badge. At first I was jealous, but I realized that being mad at Ron wouldn't make me a good friend. And then I thought about my father. If he had been a prefect, and I'm not, Ill feel like I let him down. Plus, I'm pissed at Dumbledore for not even acknowledging my presence for the past two months, even though I'm the one who saw Voldemort return. And the _Daily Prophet _making everyone think I'm crazy isn't really helping things. I also keep having nightmares about what happened in that graveyard. I can't sleep at night knowing that in my dreams I am going to see Cedric die again. Plaus, the Dursleys' are horrible as usual. And I almost died again two weeks ago. My luck is going to run out soon, and then there will be no more Harry Potter. All in all, it really sucks to be me."

Ginny looked intently at Harry as he poured his problems to her. She said softly, "Your life is not horrible, Harry. You have a great bunch of friends, you are a phenomenal Quidditch player and you do well in school. You are brave, loyal, trustworthy, intelligent and have a willingness to help anyone. You're a great person, Harry. And while being you may be hard, Harry, but it sure is not horrible."

Harry looked up and smiled, but Ginny could see a single tear dripping down his face. He had needed to hear that. That confidence in him, and how he was a good person, and not a horrible friend for being jealous of Ron. Harry was elated and thankful at the same time. He leaned over, and hugged Ginny while whispering in her ear, "Thanks for putting up with me. I really needed to hear those kind words." Just as Ginny responded, "That's what friends are for," the door slammed open and Ron came into her room, saying:

"Ginny, it's almost time for lunch." Ron noticed for the first time that Harry was sitting on her bed, and Ron yelled out "Harry! Ginny! There better not be anything going on between you two in here!"

Harry just sat there on the edge of her bed, stunned and not really knowing what to do or say, but Ginny took control of the situation, responding coolly to her brother, "There's nothing going on in here, Ron. And even if there was, it wouldn't be your business anyway." And before Ron could start yelling again, Ginny walked out, and Harry, not wanting a fight with his best friend, quickly followed.

_AN: we are almost to the meat of the story: when Harry goes back to school. Then the chapters will get longer and more detailed._


	5. Returning to Hogwarts

_AN: To keep somewhat canon, I will use some direct quotations from the novels. I co not own some of these writings, but am slightly twisting them to serve my story. And I stole the sorting hat's song…_

**Chapter Five: Returning to Hogwarts**

It was the last night before Harry, Hermione, and the Weasley children were to return to Hogwarts. Mrs. Weasley had decided to make the last dinner at Grimmauld Place a party, in honor of Ron and Hermione, who had become the new Gryffindor prefects. Harry was miserable about this whole affair, as he was disappointed about not being chosen. Harry only felt worse when he overheard Kingsley Shacklebolt, and his deep, booming voice, proclaim to Lupin, "I think Dumbledore should have made Potter a prefect. It would have shown a little faith in him, with everything that is happening to the two of them." Harry turned away, and was walking to his room to go to bed when he almost walked into Xavier, who was talking on his cellphone, and drinking a butterbeer. Xavier noticed Harry's glum face, and hung up his phone, and said, "This butterbeer stuff is delicious. They don't have it in America, though. In all seriousness though, being a prefect is no fun. You have to be all responsible and stuff, and you aren't allowed to pull pranks or have some real fun, or you might loose your badge."

Harry was surprised for a second that Xavier knew about his mixed emotions about the whole prefect thing, but he realized that Ginny probably told him, and had him say something to Harry. "Ginny put you up to this, didn't she?"

"I won't deny or confirm that, Harry. But there's something you might want to know about the whole prefect thing…"

"And that is…"

"Neither your father or I was a prefect. We spent too much time in detention together. Lupin was the good boy, he got the position. Dumbledore wanted him to control the two of us, but he failed miserably." Sirius Black had interrupted the boys' conversation. Xavier was about to start talking again when he noticed that Harry looked as happy as he had ever seen him, and Harry said cheerfully, "I think the three of us have a party to enjoy, don't you think?" And with that, Harry, Xavier, and Sirius walked back to the party. Harry walked over to the drink table, and got three butterbeers, and tossed one to Xavier, and one to Sirius. They sat down with Lupin, Kingsley, and Mad-Eye, and they all began to talk and laugh like there was no cares in the world, no Dark Lord biding his time before trying to destroy the world.

Harry learned a lot of things while at the party. Xavier and his American friends were world class pranksters, much like the Marauders of old. He also was a bit of a bookworm, but all the popular people he hung out with never really saw that side of him. Harry also heard about his father's exploits at school for the first time in detail. James's fights with Snape, the Marauders' Animagus adventures, and how Lily hated James until seventh year, when they finally started dating. The six men had started playing cards, and Sirius and Xavier were the clear winners, with Harry and Kingsley loosing, and Lupin in the middle. Mad-Eye didn't play, because his magical eye would be an unfair advantage, so he kept the conversations moving by telling Auror stories. When Harry heard Mrs. Weasley say, "Time for bed, children. The party's over." Harry and Xavier got up, said goodbye to their card-playing companions, and started to walk up the stairs towards bed.

"Well that was fun. Too bad you're such a bad poker player, Harry."

"Ha Ha, very funny Xavier. You just got lucky is all… Wait, listen carefully…" Harry could hear someone sobbing in an upstairs room. "Xavier, do you hear that sobbing? It sounds like Mrs. Weasley. Lets go see if she's OK

"r-r-riddikulus… No Harry, you can't be dead…" Harry could definitely tell it was Mrs. Weasley. Harry was confused on how you could be dead, and standing and talking at the same time. Harry and Xavier ran into the drawing room, and they could see Mrs. Weasley sobbing, and casting a spell at a boggart, but it kept changing into different members of the Weasley family, or Harry; but they were all dead. Xavier muttered, "She's pretty much your mother. See what you can do for her. I'll get Lupin. He's good with this kind of thing." And with this parting comment, Xavier walked out of the room. Harry crept over to Mrs. Weasley, and putting a soothing hand across her shoulders, said, "It's ok. It's just a boggart and no one has died. We're all safe here at Headquarters…" As Harry tried to comfort her, Xavier and Lupin walked into the room, and Lupin muttered the correct spell, and the boggart was gone. Mrs. Weasley looked up for the first time, and Harry could clearly see the tears running down her face. Sobbing, she said, "Thanks, Remus. It was just a silly boggart. But half our family is in the Order. Every night I see them dead in my dreams. It will be a miracle if we all get through this alive. And what will happen to the kids if Arthur and I don't make it?"

Lupin almost laughed, but held it in, said with a smile on his face, "What do you think we would do Molly? Let them starve?"

Mrs. Weasley seemed cheered up by this as she laughed and walked out of the room with a smile on her face, muttering, "It was just a stupid boggart…"

"Harry, lets get to bed. We're getting on the train tomorrow, and we are off to Hogwarts. Wonder what the school is like?"

"The schools a giant castle, Xavier. It's really cool. And we should go to bed. We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow…"

"Mate, wake up. We gotta go in twenty minutes and you aren't even packed yet." Harry cried out as a pillow thrown by Ron Weasley hit him in the face, ruining his peaceful sleep, which was rare for Harry lately. Harry growled and got up, and began to pack his trunk. After fifteen minutes, Harry grabbed his trunk, Firebolt, and Hedwig's cage, and sprinted out of his room, hoping to not be late for the train. As he reached the landing, he saw Fred and George's trunks flying down the stairs, and collide with Ginny, knocking her down the last flight of stairs. Harry dropped his stuff, and ran down the stairs, closely followed by Fred and George.

"Ginny, are you alright?" inquired Harry.

"Sorry, little sis. Didn't see you there." Apologized Fred and George

"Here, let me help you up."

"Hold on a second, Harry. I want to stay down a little longer. Catch my breath." Everyone there was looking concerned, but no one noticed Ginny pull out her wand and cast a Bat-Bogey hex at Fred and George. The twins ran off, being chased by the products of Ginny's hex. Laughing hysterically, Harry grabbed Ginny's hand and helped her up to her feet.

"Are you sure that you're all right, Ginny? That looked like it had to hurt."

"Growing up with six older brothers makes you tough. You have to be to survive when you're outnumbered like that."

"Hold on, Ginny. Let me help you out. _Accio Ginny's luggag!._" Harry yelled, and Ginny's trunk and broom soared at Harry. Ginny caught the broom, but the trunk hit Harry in the chest, and knocked him over.

"Little help here, Gin? Now, that really hurt." Harry grimaced as he spoke. Now it was Ginny's turn to help him up, and laughing, she pulled him up.

"Awwww. You two look really cute together."

Ginny blushed, but Harry yelled up the stairs, "Shut up, Xavier. You didn't feel the need to help me with the trunk, did you?"

"You're right, Harry. So I'll help you out with yours instead." Xavier cast a basic locomotor charm, and Harry's stuff soared down the stairs and knocked him over again.

"XAVIER! What was that for?" Harry sounded angry, but couldn't quite suppress laughter as he mock yelled at his friend. Xavier ran down the stairs, and this time he was the one who helped Harry up.

"You know, Harry. You really need to do something about that habit of yours. The one where you keep getting knocked over by flying trunks."

Harry punched Xavier lightly in the stomach, as Mrs. Weasley burst into the hallway, and started yelling about needing to leave. Since they were walking to King's Cross, all the children, Mrs. Weasley, Tonks, Lupin, and Mad-Eye were all dressed as Muggles. Sirius wanted to get out of the house, so he accompanied the group in his dog form. Harry was wearing a black tee, blue jeans and his beaten up trainers. The rest of the group's clothing looked similar to Harry's; except for Xavier, who was wearing cargo shorts, a blue and white striped collared shirt, high tops, and his trademark cap with a B on it. The motley assortment walked out onto the street, towards King's Cross Station, where they would board the train to Hogwarts

Harry was walking between Xavier and Ron, and he looked over at Xavier and asked him, "What's the B on your hat even mean?"

"Oh, the hat. The B is the team symbol of my favorite baseball team, the Boston Red Sox. Baseball is a Muggle sport, and you really wouldn't get it, Harry."

"Xavier, do you play Quidditch?"

"Yeah, I do. I played Chaser for my school team. Do you guys have a team?"

Ron jumped into the conversation, "We actually have four teams, one for each house."

"Boys, and their Quidditch. Is that all you ever talk about?" Hermoine had spoken for the first time on their walk.

Ron snickered and said, "Yeah, pretty much."

The walk to the train station continued and Harry, Ron, and Xavier began to talk about Quidditch, and Xavier tried to explain the concept of baseball to Harry and Ron, but they thought it was a silly sport, and really didn't get it. Meanwhile, Sirius would chase cats and birds, which would cause the three boys to laugh every time. Hermione would occasionally try to question Xavier on the academics in America, but Harry could see that Xavier didn't really get too enthused about that subject, and would quickly change the conversation to sports again. Eventually they reached the station, and Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred and George said their goodbyes, and got onto the train. Harry went to find a compartment with Ginny and Xavier, because Ron and Hermione had a prefect meeting, and Fred and George met up with their friend Lee Jordan. The three walked down to the end of the train, where they met up with Neville Longbottom, a clumsy fifth-year Gryffindor, who nonetheless was still one of Harry's good friends.

"How you doing, Neville? This is my new friend, Xavier Dalton. He just moved here from America."

Xavier and Neville shook hands, and Neville muttered something about not being able to find an open compartment. Ginny peeked her head into the last one, and shoved them in. Sitting there was a blonde-haired girl who was reading a magazine upside down. She peered at them and Ginny spoke, "Hi, Luna. These are my friends. Alright if we sit here?"

Luna agreed, and the four sat down, "Luna's in my year Harry, but she's in Ravenclaw."

Luna spoke in a dreamy sing-song voice, which Harry thought was perfect for her character, pointing to each of them in turn, "You must be Harry Potter. I can see the scar. And you must be Neville Longbottom, I've seen you around before. But I don't know you…"

"I'm Xavier Dalton, a new student. Just came across the pond from America about a month ago."

After the introductions were made, Luna went back to her magazine, which Ginny and Harry noticed she was reading upside down. Harry, Ginny and Xavier were talking about Quidditch, while Neville continued to stroke his odd looking plant. Harry thought it was ugly, so he decided to ask what it was

"Hey, Neville. What's that odd looking plant?"

"It's a _mimblus Mimbletonia._ My uncle Algie got it for me while he was in Assyria. Do you want to see its defense mechanism? It's really cool." Before Harry could answer, Xavier interrupted, "No, I'd rather not. Sorry, Neville. Plants shouldn't spray junk or anything like that. They're plants. They should just sit there like plants."

Before Harry or Neville could respond to this anti-plant tirade by Xavier, the compartment door opened again, and in stepped Cho Chang.

"Hi, Harry. I just wanted to stop in and say hello… Who's your friend?" She was looking straight at Xavier as she said this.

Xavier said quickly "I'm Xavier Dalton. Just moved here from America a month ago. And you are?"

"Cho Chang, nice to meet you."

"No, Cho the pleasure is all mine."

"Well, I must get going. See you around Harry and Xavier." She winked at Xavier as she walked out the door.

"Harry, she's kinda cute, don't cha think?" Xavier didn't know Harry had a crush on Cho, and was steering into dangerous waters. Harry could feel his hand moving towards his wand, when he heard the door open again, and Ron and Hermione came into the compartment. Ron looked at Harry, and saw that his face was red with anger, and whispered to Xavier,

"Mate, what did you do to Harry? He almost never gets this angry." Xavier looked insulted for a second, and then looked thoughtfully at Harry, and whispered back to Ron,

"Well, this cute girl named Cho came into the compartment, and I well… talked to her a little…"

"Xavier, that was about the worst thing you could have done. He's had a crush on that girl for more than a year now. Now he's probably gonna hex you unless you do something."

"Harry, look, I have no interest in Cho. She's cute and all, but she's all yours." Xavier added in an undertone to Ron, "I really hope that defuses him…"

Harry heard this statement, and calmed himself down a little bit, convincing himself that he had imagined the wink that Cho had given Xavier. The food trolley came at this very convenient moment, and Harry ordered his usual feast of Chocolate Frogs and Pumpkin Pasties. Everyone in the compartment laughed and talked happily, as they ate and traded Chocolate Frog cards. They were almost to the school, when the compartment door opened again, and Draco Malfoy walked in, flanked by his goons Crabbe and Goyle.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" Harry yelled at him before he could say anything.

"Manners, Potter. Or I'll have to give you a detention. I, unlike you, have been made a Prefect, so I, unlike you, can give detentions"

"You, Malfoy, or whatever your name is, all being a prefect does is make you a target for the other students, like myself."

"Potter, who's the new guy who thinks he's tough?" At this Crabbe and Goyle cracked their knuckles."

"Xavier Dalton, just moved here from America. And what makes you feel you're so tough, coming in here with your cronies."

"Well, Dalton. Just like Potter, I see you picked the wrong crowd to associate with. I must be going, but remember Potter, I'll be _dogging _your footsteps in case you step out of line." The three Slytherins exited the compartment, and Xavier, Hermoine, and Harry shared a look that showed that each was equally unnerved about Malfoy's word choice.

Ron, who clearly didn't notice anything, said to Harry, "Mate, toss me another Frog, will ya?"

It started to get dark, and they all changed into their Hogwarts robes. Xavier's did not have a house crest yet, as he was not a member of a house yet. As the train slowed down, Ron and Hermoine left. As prefects, they had to supervise the unloading of all the students. They left everyone else to take care of their pets, Pigwidgeon and Crookshanks. As they got off the train, Harry was going to try to carry Hedwig and the other two pets, as Xavier had his peregrine falcon, Dustin, as in America they used falcons as well as owls to deliver mail. As Harry juggled the three pets, Luna came up and took Pigwidgeon for him, and the group got off the train…

The carriage ride had been uneventful, except Harry and Xavier could see what were pulling the carriages, but Ron and Hermoine could not. Ron thought the other two were nutters, or they had gotten hold of some firewhisky, but did not say anything. As they entered the castle, Xavier disappeared, but the rest of the group made their way to the Great Hall for the feast and the Sorting. As they sat down, Harry and Ron were looking throughout the hall for Xavier, but did not see him anywhere. The other absence they noticed was that of Hagrid, their half-giant friend, and the Care of Magical Creatures professor. As the first years walked in, Harry noticed a much taller first year.

"Hey Ron, see that huge first year? That's Xavier!" Harry shouted. Right after he said this, the Sorting Hat began to sing:

"_In times of old when I was new  
And Hogwarts barely started  
The Founders of our noble school  
Thought never to be parted:  
nited by a common goal,  
They had the selfsame yearning  
To make the world's best magic school  
And pass along their learning.  
"Together we will build and teach!"  
The Four good friends decided  
And never did they dream that they  
Might someday be divided,  
For were there such friends anywhere  
As Slytherin and Gryffindor?  
Unless it was the second pair  
Of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw?  
So how could it have gone so wrong?  
How could such friendships fail?  
Why, I was there and so can tell  
The whole sad, sorry tale.  
Said Slytherin, "We'll teach just those  
Whose ancestry is purest."  
Said Ravenclaw, "We'll teach those whose  
Intelligence is surest."  
Said Gryffindor, "We'll teach all those  
With brave deeds to their name,"  
Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot,  
And treat them just the same."  
These differences caused little strife  
When first they came to light,  
For each of the four founders had  
A House in which they might  
Take only those they wanted, so,  
For instance, Slytherin  
Took only pure-blood wizards  
Of great cunning, just like him,  
And only those of sharpest mind  
Were taught by Ravenclaw  
While the bravest and the boldest  
Went to daring Gryffindor,  
Good Hufflepuff, she took the rest,  
And taught them all she knew,  
Thus the Houses and their founders  
Retained friendships firm and true.  
So Hogwarts worked in harmony  
For several happy years,  
But the discord crept among us  
Feeding on our faults and fears.  
The Houses that, like pillars four,  
Had once held up our school,  
Now turned upon each other and,  
Divided, sought to rule.  
And for a while it seemed the school  
Must meet an early end,  
What with dueling and with fighting  
And the clash of friend on friend  
And at last there came a morning  
When old Slytherin departed  
And though the fighting then died out  
He left us quite downhearted.  
And never since the founders four  
Were whittled down to three  
Have the Houses been united  
And they once were meant to be.  
And now the Sorting Hat is here  
And you all know the score:  
I sort you into Houses  
Because that is what I'm for,  
But this year I'll go further,  
Listen closely to my song:  
Though condemned I am to split you  
Still I worry that it's wrong,  
Though I must fulfill my duty  
And must quarter every year  
Still I wonder whether sorting  
May not bring the end I fear.  
Oh, know the perils, read the signs,  
The warning history shows,  
For our Hogwarts is in danger  
From external, deadly foes  
And we must unite inside her  
Or we'll crumble from within  
I have told you, I have warned you..  
Let the sorting now begin"_

The hat stopped its song, and applause broke out. The sorting had begun, and "Abercrombie, Euan" had stepped up to the hat. He looked terrified as he put on the Hat, which quickly shouted, "_GRYFFINDOR!"_

Harry started to zone out until he heard Dumbledore stand up and say, "The next student is actually a fifth-year, who happens to recently have moved here from America."

"Dalton, Xavier" Xavier walked confidently up to the Sorting Hat and put it on. The hat took a long time considering what house to put Xavier in, but eventually yelled, "_GRYFFINDOR!"_

Harry and Ron were the loudest of the people at the Gryffindor table who applauded, and Xavier sat down next to Harry, looking pleased with his new house. "The Hat thought I would be good in Ravenclaw, but it changed it's mind, saying my academic focus wasn't good enough for that house."

The feast had begun, and Harry and Xavier were too busy eating to notice another of Ron and Hermione's arguments. The feast was delicious as usual, and Xavier was particularly impressed, as he had never experienced a Hogwarts feast before. All the students in the school were talking and eating and laughing, and after an hour or so, the feast was over, and Dumbledore began to address the school. But as Dumbledore was speaking, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, who Xavier said worked at the Ministry, and was named Umbridge, kept coughing and interrupting him. After a minute or so, Dumbledore was gracious, and allowed her to speak. Harry quickly lost focus during her long and boring speech, but he could tell it was not good. Hermoine's face was more and more horrified as the speech continued. When Umbridge sat down, Hermoine turned to Harry, Ron and Xavier, and asked,

"Were any of you listening her speak?" When they all shook their heads, she continued matter-of-factly, "Well, it basically meant that the Ministry is interfering at Hogwarts…"

The three boys, especially Ron and Harry were appalled by this, as they all knew how inept the Ministry of Magic was. After dinner was over, all the Gryffindors returned to their dorm, and everyone was grilling Xavier about his life in America, and Harry used the opportunity to sneak off the bed early and think about what Hermione had said about the Ministry, and what Umbridge's plan was.


	6. Toads, Bats and OWLs

**Chapter Six: Toads, Bats, and O.W.L's**

Harry was having another one of the dreams that had been plaguing him all summer. He was walking down a dark hallway, towards a mysterious door. Harry was one step away from the door, and he wanted so badly to open it… He put his hand on the doorknob, he was about to turn the doorknob and open the door.

"Yo, Harry! Get up, I'm hungry, and we have to go to breakfast before class!" Harry was frustrated at Xavier as he had been hoping for a month to open that door, and finally see what was on the other side.

"One second, Xavier. I just have to get my glasses, and then we can go down and get something to eat." Harry mumbled as felt around his bedside table before finally finding his glasses. He put them on, and a smiling Xavier came into focus, wearing his black school robes with a Gryffindor crest, but still wearing his usual Red Sox baseball cap. Harry quickly changed, and then noticed Ron wasn't there.

"Ron went down to breakfast early, didn't he?"

"Of course he did, Harry. He never misses a chance to eat. By the way we should hurry. I think they are handing out schedules or something like that."

Harry and Xavier left the dormitory, as Neville, Dean and Seamus had also gone down to the Great Hall, and ran into Ginny and Hermione, who were just coming from the girls dormitories.

"Hi Harry, hi Xavier!" Ginny called brightly from the stairs. Harry and Xavier smiled as Ginny and Hermione rushed towards them.

"Harry, how are you? You seemed tired when you left early last night?" Hermione asked with concern, Harry thought he sounded like Mrs. Weasley whenever he didn't eat enough.

"Yeah Harry, way to leave me out to dry last night. I had to answer random questions about America and myself for like four hours. Four hours! Do you know how horrible it was?" Xavier said this with a confident smile that told Harry that he enjoyed it, at least a little bit.

"I bet you enjoyed it. All you do is talk, and talk, and make jokes. Not saying it's a bad thing though." Harry shot back.

Hermione and Ginny watched the playful bantering between the two boys, and while Ginny was giggling the whole time, Hermione muttered something under her breath that sounded like "Boys…"

The four friends headed down from the Gryffindor tower and walked into the Great Hall just in time to grab a quick breakfast before Professor McGonagall came around with the schedules for the year. Ron wanted to apologize to Harry for not waiting for him, but Harry shrugged him off, joking;

"It's all right Ron, after all you are an _ickle _growing boy, and you need your food."

Fred and George laughed loudly when they heard this, and the laughter spread quickly, and soon half the Gryffindors were laughing. Even Ron gave a chuckle, before McGonagall silenced the whole table with one glare. She started to hand out the schedules, and she soon got to Xavier.

"Mr. Dalton, you will be studying the following classes: Charms with Professor Flitwick, Transfiguration with me, Defense Against the Dark Arts with Professor Umbridge, Potions with Professor Snape, History of Magic, with Professor Binns, Care of Magical Creatures with Professor Hagrid, Herbology with Professor Sprout, Astronomy with Professor Sinistra, and Divination with Professor Trelawney. Based on your education record from Los Angeles, you should do fine, although I expect better, given your obvious talent…"

After giving Xavier his schedule, and giving out timetables to Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione, Xavier looked at Harry, as if asking him about the teachers.

"McGonagall is strict, but fair, and she's a really good teacher. Flitwick is also a really good teacher, and nice too. The DADA teacher is new, so we don't know. Snape is a slimy git, who clearly favors students of his own house, Slytherin. Binns is the most boring teacher ever, but just copy notes from Hermione here and you'll do fine. Hagrid is a good man, and has helped me out of tight spots before. I'll introduce you to him. Sprout is a pretty good teacher, but be careful around her plants. Sinistra is also a good teacher. And finally, Trelawney. She's just an old fraud, who always thinks I'm going to die a horrible death."

Ron thought Harry had described the teachers of Hogwarts perfectly, as did Ginny, but Hermione was glaring at Harry, especially about suggesting copying her notes. But, she did not get a chance to say anything, as it was time to head to their first class, double Potions with the Slytherins. Harry, Ron and Xavier were not pleased with their first class of the year, but they said goodbye to Ginny, and tread off to the dungeons with Hermione. They reached the Potions classroom and placed down their stuff; Harry and Xavier at one table, and Ron and Hermione at one right next to them. Professor Snape swept into the classroom, and with one glare at Harry and Xavier, addressed the class.

"As you all can see, we have a new student with us. I have spoken with him about his potions experience already, and he sounds exactly like Potter; overconfident and self-satisfied. I'm sure he will make a _good addition_ to our class. I am talking about Mr. Dalton of course."

Xavier glared at Snape for a second, but then did something no one except Harry expected; smiled and laughed. He took off his cap and waved it, as if accepting some honor that Snape had presented him. All the Gryffindors in the class laughed, but Snape quickly silenced them with a murderous glare that lingered on Harry and Xavier with a deepest loathing. Snape continued speaking;

"After that… _display_ from our newest student, our focus must return to potion making. As you all know, this year is O.W.L year, and I only take the best potion makers into my N.E.W.T classes. Therefore, some of us will surely being saying goodbye. But, I want all of my O.W.L students to pass the examination, even the ones who will not be continuing in Potions. Therefore, I will hold everyone, yes even you two, Potter and Dalton, to the same high pass standard that I will expect from pupils attempting to continue onto the Potions N.E.W.T. Now onto our first potion for this year; the Draught of Peace, a potion to calm anxiety and soothe agitation. Be warned: If you are too heavy handed with the ingredients, you may put the drinker into a deep and perhaps irreversible sleep. The ingredients and method are on the blackboard and you will find everything you need in the store cupboard. Begin."

Harry, Ron and Xavier were having major difficulties with the potion. The ingredients had to be added at exact times, the flame had to be a perfect height, and the potion had to be stirred at exactly the right number of times in order for the potion to be letting off silver vapor like it was supposed to. Harry looked around the room nervously, his potion was letting off a mass of gray smoke. Xavier's was letting off the silver vapor, but it was not stable, and bubbling vigorously. Ron's was spewing green sparks. At the end of the class, Professor Snape began to walk around the classroom. When Snape arrived at Harry's table, he looked down into Harry's cauldron and smirked.

"What is this supposed to be, Potter?"

Everyone in the class looked over. The Gryffindors hated when Snape unfairly taunted Harry, but the Slytherins loved it. Xavier and Ron were looking at each other, Ron sending him a look like this was the usual treatment.

"The Draught of Peace…" said Harry bluntly.

"Potter, tell me the truth. Can you read?" Snape taunted Harry softly, and Draco Malfoy laughed loudly.

"Yes, I can…" Harry said this as his hand grabbed his wand tightly.

"Read the third line of instructions for me then, Potter." Harry squinted through the smoke filling the room, and read:

"Add powdered moonstone, stir three times counterclockwise, allow to simmer for seven minutes, then add two drops of syrup of hellebore." Harry looked at the floor sadly. He had forgotten the syrup of hellebore.

"Did you do everything on the third line, Potter?"

"No, sir. I forgot the hellebore…"

"That makes this mess utterly worthless, then. _Evanesco._" The potion in Harry's cauldron vanished, and Snape started to continue when Xavier stood, and said to Snape in nearly a whisper:

"That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen. Harry's potion was better than nearly half the class's. It was no worse than my potion. So why does Harry get a zero, sir?" The only people who heard what Xavier actually said were Harry, Ron, Hermione and Snape himself. The other Gryffindors looked around nervously, no one messed with Professor Snape. Not even Harry, who had always been treated horribly in Potions, had dared to yet. On the other hand, the Slytherins looked excited, they wanted to see what happened to the new kid, especially because he was in their rival house. Snape turned to face Xavier, and said loudly but calmly, "Mr. Dalton, you are right…" Everyone in the class was shocked. Snape had never admitted that a Gryffindor was right in his class. "Potter's potion was as bad as your potion. So I think a zero for you is in order, Mr. Dalton." Snape marked down the grade quickly in his book before continuing, "For that blatant disrespect for my authority as a Professor, twenty points for Gryffindor, and detention tonight in my office, at eight o'clock this evening. Class dismissed." The Gryffindors and the Slytherins were both talking about the same thing as they left the dungeon for lunch; what Xavier could have possibly said to Snape.The Gryffindors admired his courage, but the Slytherins just thought he was stupid.

"Xavier, what possessed you to do that? Snape hated me since before he ever met me. I'm a lost cause. But now he'll treat you the same. We needed someone to get on his good side, because he hates the three of us already." Harry was talking loudly to Xavier as they left the dungeon.

"Harry, friends watch out for each other. He was giving you a hard time, so I said something. It wasn't that foolish or reckless." Xavier whispered back to Harry. Ron and Hermione ran to catch up to the other two, as they had to hand their potions in.

"Xavier, although that was brave, it was very foolish. You should tread carefully around Snape, especially when Harry is involved." Hermione chided Xavier for what he had done.

"But it was still bloody brilliant. No Gryffindor has ever stood up to Snape like that, at least since I've been here." Ron chimed in, and Hermione and Harry both glared at him.

The four Gryffindors walked in silence towards the Great Hall, where they would grab lunch before their next two classes, for Harry, Ron, and Xavier these were Divination, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. When they got to the Hall, they could hear loud whispers from all four House tables, and some of the rumors about the confrontation between Xavier and Snape coming from the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables were ridiculous.

"Did you hear, Snape can only talk in limericks now..."

"The new kid is in the hospital wing with a newt skin for a face."

When everyone saw Xavier walk in, there was a stunned silence as everyone realized that nothing happened to him. As he and his friends sat down, everyone at the Gryffindor table crowded around and wanted to hear the truth. Xavier and Harry told the story quickly, before anyone from the other houses could come and overhear the truth. Some of the Gryffindors were a bit disappointed based on the rumors that had flown through the school, but they all respected Xavier's guts to tell off Snape.

After eating lunch quickly, the three boys headed off to Divination, while Hermione went to Arithmancy. They climbed the ladder, and entered the misty classroom, where they endured a boring hour of dream reading. After this class, they met up with Hermione again, and headed to Defense Against the Dark Arts, where Professor Umbridge awaited them. The four walked into the classroom, and all took desks in the middle of the classroom. The whole class was chatting, when the Professor came in, and everyone was silent. Umbridge was wearing a fluffy pink cardigan, and a large, velvet black bow atop her head.

"Good afternoon, class." The new Professor said sweetly

"Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge." A few people mumbled, but almost everyone else sat there.

"Now class, that won't do. When I say, 'Good afternoon class,' you will all say, 'Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge.' Let's try again, shall we. Good afternoon, class."

This time everyone greeted Professor Umbridge, and she smiled. She got up to the board, and started to write her class aims up on the board. There was nothing about actually using defense spells, and the class was not pleased about this. When Hermoine pointed this out, Professor Umbridge went in a tirade about their past teachers, especially Professor Lupin, who Umbridge was prejudiced against because of his "furry little problem."

"Now, Professor. Isn't the point of this class to learn how to defend ourselves in the real world. Don't we have to use spells to do this?" Xavier had stopped twirling his quill in his fingers, and had spoken for the first time in the class.

"Ahh. Mr. Dalton, I was waiting for you to speak. My question to you would be; what is so bad that is waiting for you in the real world?"

Before Xavier could dig himself into a deeper hole, Harry interrupted and said hotly, "Let me think about that… _Voldemort?_"

"Detention, Mr. Potter. I will not allow you to tell these lies in my class."

"Lies? What lies? Just because your bosses tell you what to believe doesn't make it right. You just can't handle the truth, can you?"

"Detention, Mr. Dalton. I will not allow anti-Ministry speech in my class. Both of you, go see your head of House now." Professor Umbridge screeched. Harry and Xavier stood up, took their notes from Professor Umbridge, and walked out of the classroom, towards McGonagall's office.

"Did you really have to jump in for me again? I could have handled her by myself." Harry yelled at Xavier. Harry was furious that Xavier's big mouth had gotten them kicked out of class.

"Well, I do sort of have a vendetta against that woman. She tried to have me tried for underage magic the night I saved your skin, but Dumbledore stepped in. That's why I jumped in, I'm sure you could have handled that bat by yourself."

Just then, Professor McGonagall stepped out of her office, and looked at her two students, and asked, "What are you yelling about, Potter? And why are you two here, and not in class?"

Harry and Xavier handed her the notes from Umbridge, and walked into her office. They sat down, and McGonagall read the notes, and frowned as she reached the end.

"Potter, is it true you yelled at Professor Umbridge?"

"Yes."

"Dalton, is it true you called her a liar?"

"Yea, but she is."

"Potter, Dalton, have a biscuit."

"What?" Both boys asked simultaneously.

"Have a biscuit and listen. You are both smart children. You know where Umbridge is from, and who she reports to, especially you Dalton. You are both right, she is a liar. But you could loose more than House points for crossing Dolores Umbridge. It's not about truth and lies, its about keeping your head down, and your temper out of control. Now, what did she say at her speech last night?"

Both boys thought for a second, as neither of them had listened to the speech. They were both running through what Hermione had said, and Harry eventually spoke.

"Progress for the sake of progress will be stopped and well… Basically the Ministry is interfering at Hogwarts."

"Well Potter, that is right. I'm glad you listen to Hermione Granger. Now both of you head to dinner, and be careful."

Harry and Xavier both walked out in silence, until they were almost to the Great Hall. Harry pulled Xavier back and said quickly, "Look, I'm sorry about yelling at you earlier. Today's just been kind of bad."

"Na man, it's cool. Let's go, we're late for dinner." Xavier smiled, and the two boys walked into the Great Hall for dinner. They were late, and almost everyone else was finishing their meal. Hermione and Ginny called them over, and they sat down.

"That was really stupid, both of you." Hermione was scolding them again.

"Well, I thought it was really cool. That lady's a witch." Ginny smiled as she cut Hermione off. Harry turned red, and Xavier laughed.

"Both of you are almost school celebrities now. Standing up to the two meanest teachers in the school in one day. You should hear the rumors about you two." Ron joined the conversation as he stuffed some pie into his mouth. Harry and Xavier quickly ate as the others talked to them about what they had been hearing about Xavier's past. Some of the things were insane, such as the ninja football player that one little Hufflepuff girl had been spreading around. This made Harry loose his pumpkin juice through his nose. Xavier just smiled as he heard the asinine rumors about his past. While this was going on, Harry was confused about why he blushed when Ginny had complimented him. This was usually a Cho thing for him. Before he knew it, it was almost time for his and Xavier's detentions. The two boys left the Great Hall, and they moved towards separate detentions; Harry to Umbridge's and Xavier to Snape's. But even as Harry was heading towards a detention, he thought of Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Xavier, and how glad he was to be back at Hogwarts: his home.


	7. Quidditch, Detentions, and the DA

**Chapter Seven: Quidditch, Detentions, and the D.A**

_AN: Few things I want to say: First; thanks to everyone reading the story. Second; all reviews are appreciated, positive or negative, so please review. Third; a lot of this chapter will be told in first person: either in Harry's view, or Xavier's view. This should add a new dynamic to the story. I may not use first person that often, but I will alert you in case I do. Oh, and sorry about taking so long between updates._

_Xavier's POV:_

I walked towards Snape's detention, not really knowing what to expect. Sure, I've faced tough discipline before, that's part of a prankster's life. But based on what I've seen, and what my friends have told me, this Snape guy is on a whole other level. I wasn't really scared, but more apprehensive than anything else. I walked down a flight of trick stairs, and remembered just in time not to step on the seventh step, or I would have sunk waist deep into the floor. I reached the dungeons and knocked once on Snape's office door, heard a gruff "Enter, Mr. Dalton" and walked into the Potions master's office.

The walls were dark gray stone, and I saw tanks and vats of various potions ingredients. I also saw some of Snape's personal effects: his green and black traveling cloaks, his Slytherin Quidditch pennant, and his various Potions awards from his time you are at school. He gave me a few seconds to look around, and I muttered, "Nice place." I was trying to appease him, and hope he would let me out quickly so I would have time to do some of my homework. The Professor heard me, but my clever ruse didn't work.

"Nice try, Mr. Dalton. I must admit you sounded quite sincere. But as I am a skilled Legilimens, I could tell that you were just trying to appease me, and get off easy tonight. What I have for you tonight will not be easy. I will be invading your mind, seeing what makes you tick, seeing what makes you Xavier Matthew Dalton, and how I can use that to prevent more cockiness out of you in this class. Before we start though, I will give you ten minutes to prepare yourself. Your head will hurt after this, and you will feel sick tomorrow. Hopefully, that alone will teach you a lesson."

I was absolutely terrified at this point. Harry and Ron were right Snape was going to try to break me. The worst part of this is that I had never had any Occulmency training. I had no shot at keeping Snape out of my mind. What if he saw some of my private memories? What if he saw the revenge pranks was already planning to pull with Harry and Ron on him? What if he saw the one event I will always regret, and make me relive it again?

I did the only thing left I could think of: I stared Severus Snape down, I tried to intimidate him. But he simply sneered and said, "No Occulmency training? Too bad. It is time… _Legilimens!"_ I could feel him pressing deep into my mind…

_Harry's POV (Same time period as Xavier's beginning of chapter)_

I walked towards Umbridge's detention as Xavier walked the other way. I wondered what I would have to do for the woman. She seemed to be nice on the outside, but I had bad feelings about her. She seemed like the type that would give me some sort of unusual punishment, one that would test me. I walked up to the DADA teacher's office and knocked once on the door…

"Ah, Mr. Potter. Good evening, come in."

"Good evening, Professor Umbridge."

I stepped into her office and was shocked at what she had done to the place. It was all pink, frilly, and filled with posters and plates with meowing cats on them. It looked much different than the Dark Detector office that Moody had, or the office with a new exotic creature when Lupin was the professor, or the narcissistically themed office when Lockhart was the teacher. I couldn't help a small look of disgust of what Umbridge had done to the place. It looked horrible. She smiled at me, and spoke again.

"You will be doing lines for me tonight, Mr. Potter." I reached into my bag to take out my quill but she said tartly, "No, Mr. Potter, you will be using a special quill of mine tonight."

"Professor, what do I have to write, and how many times will I have to write it?"

"You will write _I must not tell lies_, and you will write until the message _sinks _in..."

I picked up her special quill, it was pink with a large black feather, and began to write. Something unbelievable happened, and I let out a gasp of pain. The words were etching themselves into my hand…

_Xavier's POV (continues immediately from where it let off originally)_

I felt helpless. There was nothing I could do as the sadistic Potions professor dug through everything I had done in my life. He started with my happy memories, playing Quidditch and football. He saw me scoring with the Quaffle, and breaking tackles as I ran to the end zone in football. Then he saw me in various secluded corners of my American school with various girls. Then he saw me with the guys, playing poker and hanging out on the beach. He saw happy times with my parents and my brother, James and my sister Jessica. Both are wizards as well, and are still in America getting their education there. He saw me getting my e-mail that told me about being a wizard, and the celebration that I had. He saw me as a small child, playing with other children, and I always had a smile on my face. He saw me pulling pranks with my crew on various students and teachers.

But then Snape switched tactics, and moved to my bad memories. Loosing in Quidditch. Loosing the state championship in football when I got tackled at the three yard line on the final play. Seeing every breakup fight with every girl I had ever had a relationship with. He saw me all the fights I got in growing up, and I had to relive every punch I ever took. He saw me fighting with my parents and siblings. He saw me get up and leave America and come across the Death Eaters after arriving in England by accident and almost dying. He saw me almost arrested by Umbridge for saving Harry. But he got to my worst memory of all: He saw me holding the dying, bloody body of my former best friend, Steve, as he died from his wounds in a brutal street wizards duel. He saw me crying and then he let me out of his mind trap.

A solitary tear fell from my face, remembering that day like it was yesterday. It was after the Quidditch national title game, and Texas had beaten us 330-310. The game was brutal, and both teams were violent. The fighting continued as both teams went to leave, and spells were soon flying all over. Snape interrupted my flashback, sneering and whispering

"Not so high and mighty, are we Mr. Dalton. I knew you must have some skeletons in your closet. You have no consistency though, you're either on top of the world, or laying on the bottom. And by the way, if you try a prank on me, you'll regret it. You may go, Mr. Dalton."

I was relieved to finally get out of that torture, and I walked out of his classroom, mind whirling on all the things Snape had seen. I saw it was pitch black, and the corridors were deserted, and I started to sprint back to Gryffindor tower, and I was going to get some sleep before class the next day.

_Harry's POV (After his detention is complete: detention same as canon)_

I couldn't believe what happened in that detention. That evil woman made me write lines into my own hand. It still hurts like crazy, and you can almost see the carving of "_I must not tell lies" _I'm telling lies my ass. She's the one telling the lies. Her and the damn government. They make me and Dumbledore look crazy, but we'll show them. They'll find out the truth soon enough. But for now, how much longer am I going to have to deal with this? People avoiding me in the halls, whispering about me in the Great Hall, this is bullshit.

I needed to get back to the dormitories and I broke off into a run. I was using all the secret passages I knew, and I was almost to the dorms when I heard two sets of footsteps. I sprinted around the corner…

WHAM! I collided into Xavier, and our stuff flew all over the place. His hat got flung off, and our bags went careening into the wall as we went down to the floor

"Sorry, man. Didn't see you there. Snape's detention was brutal."

"Couldn't have been worse than mine, Xavier. _Bloody _lines for four hours."

"Well, at least your mind wasn't getting hacked into. Snape knows all my secrets and memories. The whole time, he was using Legilimency on me. He wanted some dirt on me, and damn he got it."

I was about to ask what this dirt was when Ron burst out of a door masquerading as a solid wall, looked at us on the ground and asked, "Are you guys all right? What the hell happened?"

I looked at him and noticed that he was wet, dirty, and that he was holding his broom.

"Yeah, we're fine, Ron. What's with the broom?" I asked him. I thought I already knew the answer, but I gave him a chance to say it.

"I just fancied a walk, that's all. And then I decided to fly around for awhile." I decided to let him have his secret, and the three of us walked to the dormitories. I was the last one to fall asleep, and I could soon hear Ron's snores and Xavier's deep breathing.

_Back to third person…_

The week went quickly, and soon it was Friday; the day of the Gryffindor Keeper tryouts. Xavier and Hermione went down to the pitch together to cheer on Ron. Ron didn't know that his friends knew about his intentions to tryout for the keeper position. Ginny was walking down with her brother and Harry, and the three of them were talking about the upcoming Quidditch season. When they got to the pitch, Ginny went back to the stands, and the team captain, seventh year Chaser Angelina Johnson addressed her team, and the potential Keeper candidates, telling them the instructions for the tryout. The team would scrimmage, and the potentials would rotate playing Keeper, and the best candidate would join the team. There were six other people trying out besides Ron, who had taken on a shade of green. Harry looked at his friend with concern and noticed that Ron was the fourth keeper in line to play. Harry wasn't really involved, as the Snitch didn't matter, and he instead watched the Keepers play. The first three were horrible, and then Ron was up. He saved the first shot, then the second, and the third was a phenomenal save, as Ron batted away Katie Bell's shot with the tip of his broom. Ron missed the next two horribly, and then he was done, The next three keepers were pretty good, and Harry knew Ron could make the team, but he might not. The team conferred, and Angelina addressed the Keepers.

"Thank you all for coming. You all played well, but we can only take two of you. One as starter, and the other as a reserve. Our reserve Keeper will be Vicky Frobisher. And our starter this year will be Ron Weasley. Congratulations Ron and Vicky."

Ron whopped in celebration, and he was quickly joined by Harry and Ginny. Hermione and Xavier soon followed, and the five of them walked happily to Gryffindor Tower.

A couple of weeks later, Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting by the fire in the Gryffindor common room. Xavier was still in detention for pulling a prank on Umbridge, which turned her hair pink to match her clothing, and also turned her kitten posters into snakes. Ron had been struggling with his goalkeeping at Quidditch practices, and Harry found it hard to keep his friend's spirits up. Hermione finally spoke after a long silence:

"Harry, I was thinking… Since this is our O.W.L year, and we need to do well in all of our classes. And Umbridge refuses to teach us anything this year. We should teach ourselves Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Like look jinxes up in the library and stuff? That wont really do much, will it?" Harry was puzzled about Hermoine's idea. How were they supposed to teach themselves Defense Against the Dark Arts, he thought.

"No, we would have you teach us." Hermione answered plainly, almost as if she was bored of the conversation.

"What!?!? I cant teach. I barely do well in the subject myself. No one wants to learn from me."

Ron had been sitting silently the whole conversation until this point, and finally spoke, "I don't think I want someone this stupid teaching us, Hermoine." Ron then launched into a detailed monologue of all the things Harry had done.

"So will you please at least think about it, Harry?"

"Yea, sure Hermoine."

"Hey, what's up everybody? How was not being in detention with a sadistic hag?" Xavier burst into the common room, soaking wet. He had been making it a habit of being in detention with Umbridge, having six already in the first two weeks of school. Most of these detentions were punishment for talking in class, not doing homework, or the one for getting busted on a prank.

"Why the hell are you soaking wet?" Harry and Ron both asked at the same time. They did not see any reason for Xavier to have gone outside.

"Well, after my detention, I felt like going for a quick fly before bed. Good night everyone." Before Harry or Ron could point out that Xavier didn't have a broom, Xavier had run up the dorm stairs, and gone to bed. Shrugging, Harry and Ron soon joined him, not really contemplating why Xavier was lying to them.

"Harry, why is everyone all excited about this trip to Hogsmeade anyway? I don't see what's so exciting about going into the same village all the time." Xavier asked Harry as he buttoned up his traveling cloak and pulled on his blue winter cap for the October trip into Hogsmeade.

"I won't say anything until we get there, but you'll see. But we do have to meet Hermione in the Hog's Head later, which won't be too great." Harry was surprised about his friend's negative attitude, but didn't really think about it. Xavier after all, had been not able to kick back and have some fun, spending most of his time in detention or finishing homework at three in the morning.

"But there's Honeydukes, Xavier. That's only the greatest sweetshop in the world!" Ron shouted as Xavier and Harry walked out of the dorms. Ron quickly folled his friends into the common room, where they met up with Hermione and Ginny, who were coming from the girls dorms.

"Now boys, its ten now. We are all meeting in the Hog's Head at one. Don't be late. Especially you, Harry. We need to see who's interested in our D.A.D.A plan." Hermione spoke to the boys as if they were five, which greatly annoyed the three of them.

"Who's going to be interested in taking defense from me? I'm a nutter according to the Daily Prophet remember?" Harry asked, and everyone chuckled except Hermione, who scowled.

"Let's go guys, we need to get everything done before Hermione's little meeting." Ron muttered under his breath, and the three boys left the common room, and began the long, windy walk to Hogsmeade village. They were planning another prank on Professor Umbridge, and were going to buy supplies from Zonko's Joke Shop, and visit Honeydukes, and get a quick butterbeer from the Three Broomsticks.

The three boys were carrying bags of merchandise when they walked into the Hogs Head at 1:03 in the afternoon. Harry was shocked to see that there were almost 25 people in the room, and they all turned and looked at him. Harry was speechless, and Xavier elbowed him in the ribs, and Ron led him over to the large table were everyone was sitting.

"I knew you three would be late!" Hermione yelled at them "That better not be more pranking equipment, Xavier. How much more trouble can you really afford to get in?"

"I can get in a little more, Hermione. Don't worry about me. Now let's listen to Harry's little speech." Xavier whispered to her

"Speech?" Harry had not been told about this particular piece of the plan "What speech?"

"Fine, Harry. I'll start talking." Hermione shot back at Harry, who had yelled this at her. "Thank you everyone for coming. I was thinking that we aren't learning anything in D.A.D.A this year. And with the threat of Lord Voldemort ever present, we must learn to protect ourselves. So I thought that we could teach ourselves defense, and that Harry should be our leader."

The room soon became chaotic, with people shouting back and forth about Harry's sanity and qualification, and whether Lord Voldemort was actually back. Eventually, everyone was convinced to join the group, named Dumbledore's Army, and signed the list, passed around by Hermione. Soon the group disbanded, and everyone left except for Harry , Ron, Hermione, Xavier, Ginny, and Cho Chang. Cho walked over to the table that Harry and Xavier were at, said hi to Harry and Xavier, and slipped a note to Xavier that no one saw. Xavier read it quickly, and smiled. Cho was out of the bar before anyone noticed this exchange, and Xavier burned the note with a flick of his wand.

The atmosphere in the school was wild. It was the morning of the first Quidditch match of the year: Gryffindor v.s Slytherin. Harry had been in high spirits the past two weeks, with the success of the D.A, and the fact that he was spending more time with Cho. Ron was so nervous he was shaking, and nothing that Harry or Xavier could say helped at all. When it was finally time for the match, Harry and Ron separated from Hermione, Xavier and Ginny, who found a seat in the Gryffindor section of the stands.

The game had begun, and it was soon clear to Harry that Ron's first game was going to be a disaster. The Slytherin fans continued to sing "Weasley is Our King" and Ron continued to miss saves. The Gryffindor crowd was silent, even as Harry managed to catch the Snitch to end the game quickly, and eke out a win for Gryffindor. Just as he raised the ball in triumph, he was hit with a cheap shot by Crabbe, the Slytherin beater, and fell of his broom and hit the ground. He was only a few feet in the air, and got up and pumped his fist and the crowd roared; except for the Slytherin supporters.

"Hey, Potter. Way to save Weasley's skin. Did you like my lyrics?" Draco Malfoy had popped up behind Harry and the Gryffindor team, who had been celebrating. "We wanted to write more, but we couldn't rhyme fat and ugly; for his mother, or useless loser; for his father."

Fred and George turned at this point at this point and started to charge towards Malfoy. But the three Chasers held Fred back, and Harry managed to hold George back. Harry was about to loose his grip when Xavier jumped the fence on the stands and helped Harry hold Fred back.

"I suppose you like the Weasley's, Potter, because they remind you about what you remember about your own parents."

Harry released George, and Xavier was trying to hold the two back. He couldn't, and the two eventually reached Malfoy. Xavier gave up, and let them at their target. Fred and Harry started on Malfoy, reducing him to a quivering, bloody mess on the ground before the teachers stepped in, and hit the two of them with impediment jinxes. Hermione and Ginny looked on in horror from the stands, and Umbridge and McGonagall ran over to the two boys.

"Potter, Weasley!" Professor McGonagall shrieked. "This is disgraceful. A week's detention for each of you. And if I ever see anything like this again…"

"I would like to add to that punishment, and I can, according to the latest Educational Decree. I think a lifetime ban from Quidditch for the twins, and Potter here. This is not unreasonable, the rest of the team will be allowed to keep playing. They were perfectly peaceful."

Harry, Fred, George, and Xavier just stood shocked at what transpired, and Harry did not even notice Ginny and Hermione run down to them, and hug him in comfort. Harry did not know what to do, and without a word, took off on his broom. He flew back up to the school, ran up to the Gryffindor tower, and went to bed before anyone could talk to him.


	8. Fun in the Snow

**Chapter Eight: Fun in the Snow**

_AN: Sorry it took so long for a new update. With school and Halo 3, didn't have much time to write. But I will try to bring updates out quicker. If an event is not mentioned at all in the story, assume it happened like canon, unless explicitly changed. I know the dynamic between Harry and Xavier will become bit odd, but their points of view on the events in this chapter will become clear in the coming chapters. Hope you like the story, and keep reviewing. _

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were sitting in the Gryffindor common room. Ron, Hermione and Ginny were sitting on one of the large couches, and Harry was relaxing on his favorite armchair. It was getting late, and it was past curfew, and the Gryffindor fire was dying down. They were the last four people in the common room, as Harry and Ron were finishing a particularly brutal Potions essay, and Ginny had been finishing her homework, as she had been at Quidditch practice. She had been chosen as Harry's replacement as Seeker, and the replacement Beaters were two younger Gryffindors (get names). Hermione was there to _speed up_ the process, or let them copy her work. The boys had just finished, and Ginny was on the last sentence of her Transfiguration paper. Just as Harry was nodding off to sleep, the portrait hole burst open, and Xavier stepped through.

"A little late aren't you? Curfew was an hour ago." Harry started to joke with his friend but he saw the angry furious look on his face and stopped quickly.

"Fight with that Ravenclaw girl. Apparently she thinks I'm a blunt and insensitive ass. She never wants to see me again. But then again she was a wreck. Crying all the time and everything. I'll deal with it tomorrow. But for now, I'm going to bed. Night guys."

Xavier stomped off to the boys dorms, and Harry shrugged. This was starting to become typical behavior for Xavier, spending about two weeks with some girl, and then it would fall apart. Xavier never seemed angry or frustrated about it though, which Harry felt was odd. Also, this most recent girl was the only one that Xavier had never introduced to the group. Most of them were in Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, the exception being Lavender Brown.

"I wonder who this girl was and why she's crying all the time." Ron asked the group. No one said they knew, but Hermione and Ginny shared a panicked look that the boys didn't notice. The two of them had figured out who the girl was, but they didn't want to tell Harry or Ron.

"Well, I think it was rotten for Xavier to not be nicer to this girl, whoever she was. It sounds like he wasn't doing a very good job of being there for her. No wonder she never wants to see him again." Hermione lectured Harry and Ron, almost as if she was giving them a tip about girls.

"Well, I don't think it was really his fault. What was he supposed to do, with this girl crying all over him. I'm surprised that she lasted this long with him." Ron responded foolishly, and he quickly regretted it. The girls glared at him, and Harry just shook his head, laughing silently at how thick Ron could be sometimes. The four Gryffindors sat silently for a few minutes, and then one by one went off to bed.

The only thing that Harry had been living for at Hogwarts was the D.A. He couldn't play Quidditch, Snape and Umbridge were making lessons horrible, and Hagrid was a nervous wreck, fearing that he was going to get fired. As a result, his lessons were mostly tame and boring, just looking at common creatures and not really doing anything. But Harry was elated after every successful D.A lesson he taught, each time a person finally got a new spell. He was making Umbridge's worst nightmare a reality. He was training a Hogwarts army. Ron and Hermione were fighting again, as a result of Ron's latest insensitive comment. As a result, Harry was spending a lot of time with Xavier and Ginny. She had finally come out of her shell around him in the last few months, and Harry realized how great of a friend she really was. And Harry was starting to realize that Xavier was a little deeper than the cocky exterior, but not by much. Occasionally, he would do something sensitive and completely out of character. But this was rare, very rare.

"So Harry, how's the love life?" Xavier asked Harry as they were walking through the snow coming back from another boring Care of Magical Creatures class with Ron.

"Alright I guess, I've been spending a lot more time with Cho in the last few days. I think she really likes me now." Harry said wistfully as his eyes started to glaze over a little bit. As a result, he didn't notice the sickly look that came to Xavier's face as he said this. But Ron did.

"Xavier, are you all right? You don't look so good."

"Yeah, I'm fine, Ron. Don't worry about it…" but he added in a whisper that no one else could hear over the winter winds; "But I sure worried."

At this point, Xavier ran off, saying he had to pick up some books for their next class.

"But we have lunch next… Why is he running to get books now?" Ron asked Harry. Harry could just tell that Xavier was hiding something, but he had no idea what. The two boys were joined at this point by Ginny and Luna, who had been coming from Herbology. Ginny walked over to Harry and asked,

"Harry, what's with the puzzled look on your face? You look really confused. Hagrid's classes aren't that tough, at least for us they aren't."

"Maybe a Wrackspurt has got him. I thought I felt one over here." Luna started to swat the air around them, and before she could explain what a Wrackspurt was, Harry looked over at her.

"It's just Xavier. He's been acting really odd lately. Like just now, he looked sick and just ran off, saying he needed to get books for next class. But we have lunch next. It seems like he's hiding something."

"He is, and I know what he is hiding. And no, I am not going to tell either of you. He will tell you when he needs to."

Ginny walked off, and Harry chased after her, pleading with her to tell him, and Ron and Luna walked back up to the castle for lunch.

Ginny wouldn't tell Harry, and after a few minutes gave up. As the two walked through the snow, the conversation turned to other things.

"Hey Gin, how's the Quidditch team looking without me and your brothers?"

"We look absolutely horrible. Ron can only make the saves when he thinks that no one is watching. So if we can get everyone to look the other way next week, we might have a chance at winning. Our new beaters are inept, but look like superstars compared to the other people that tried out. We really had no options. Our chasers are the only position which is any good. And I like to think that I will be able to beat the other Seekers, but I really don't know." Ginny started to shiver as she said this; the wind was starting to pick up, and the snow was starting to fall again.

"Is Hermione finally going to talk to Ron today? It's really getting annoying, their fighting and all."

"I th-th-think so. She's forgotten all about how stupid my brother can be." Ginny's teeth were chattering, and her face was bright red from the cold.

"Gin, you look cold. Here, let me give you my sweater." Harry took off his grey sweater and draped it over Ginny's shoulders. She smiled at him and he smiled back. He had never noticed how cute she looked when she was cold. Without really thinking, Harry picked a clump of snow, and before Ginny could respond, Harry had thrown it at her. Soon the two of them were chasing each other around, throwing snowballs at each other. They crossed most of the castle grounds, and soon reached the castle. Harry tackled Ginny and the two of them fell laughing into the snow.

"Oy! What are you two doing?" Ron poked his head out of the castle door, glaring at his sister and his best friend. He had been waiting for them to come to lunch with him

"Nothing, Ron. We're just on our way in now." Harry frowned and got up, After brushing himself off, he helped Ginny up, and the three of them walked into the castle, towards the Great Hall for their lunch.

Ginny was right. She and Harry had taken a quick run to their dormitories to grab dry clothes, and when they reached the Great Hall, Ron and Hermione were talking like no fight had even happened.

"So, you two have finally decided to kiss and make up. It was about time." Harry couldn't resist making a joke about Ron and Hermione's inconsistent relationship. Ginny laughed, Hermione glared at Harry, and Ron's face turned bright red.

"Stuff it, Harry." He mumbled into his potatoes, and this just caused everyone around him to laugh harder. It felt good for Harry to finally be laughing and happy again. This was one of the best days he had had since being banned from the Quidditch team. Fred and George could tell what had happened, and continued to make jokes at their little brother's expense, until Xavier walked into the Great Hall soaking wet.

"Harry, there's something I need to tell you. You're not going to like it, but you deserve the truth. But I want to talk to you in private." Harry looked at Xavier, nodded, and the pair walked back out onto the grounds.

"Before I tell you, I want you to promise that you will let me talk before you do anything. When I am done, I'll let you do anything you want to me. I won't stop you. After all, I was a complete ass and probably deserve it." When Harry agreed, Xavier continued, "So this girl I just broke it off with, the Ravenclaw I never introduced you to. You know her. It was Cho, Harry. I stole your girl." Harry took a step towards Xavier, who backed up and started talking fast. "Look I screwed up. I'm really sorry. She was all over me and then it just happened, and I couldn't stop myself. I hope you can forgive me. I'm sorry."

Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing. He thought Xavier was his friend. But he had betrayed him, stabbed him in the back. And all the rage and anger that Harry had been feeling towards Umbridge and Snape, and now Xavier, came out. Harry yelled and threw a staggering punch at Xavier, and Harry could hear his friend's nose break, and Xavier went down. Harry had tears in his eyes as he ran off, leaving Xavier face down and bleeding in the snow.

Harry was just running through the castle, no idea where he was going, heart broken and rage still steaming, when he realized that he was going to be late to his next class, Defense Against the Dark Arts. So he took off towards the Great Hall to grab his bag and hopefully not be too late to Umbridge's class. When he arrived at the Great Hall, it was deserted, except for Ginny who called him over.

"Harry, what happened? Why do you have blood on your hand? Oh, oh no. You punched him, didn't you? Harry! Harry?" Harry had broken down, and he was on his knees, and he was about to loose it.

"Why did he do that to me? He was my friend. It wasn't like he had trouble with other girls. I've lost count of how many he's gone through this semester. But why Cho?" Harry stopped talking, and a single tear fell down his cheek.

Ginny's heart was torn. She couldn't bear to see the boy she loved in this much pain, but the fact it was about another girl hurt her also. Ginny embraced him, and he could feel him relax, and his breathing start to normalize again. Harry thanked her for being there for him, kissed her on the cheek and walked down to Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"Potter, you are ten minutes late. If you are late again, it will be another detention for you. Now sit down and open your book to chapter seven and start reading." Harry walked by Umbridge's desk and opened his book, but couldn't read. His mind was swirling, on Xavier and Cho and Ginny, and he was really confused. He didn't know whether to hate Xavier or Cho, or both of them. And what about Ginny? He wasn't sure if she was a friend, or something more. But he had no one to talk to, except for Sirius. But he couldn't risk an owl or Floo to his godfather, because Umbridge would know, and he would be in deep shit if she found out. Before Harry knew it, the class was over, and Hermione was hissing at him.

"Harry. What happened between you two? Why do you have blood on your fist, and where is Xavier?"

"The backstabbing asshole told me he was dating Cho, and then broke up with her. So I punched him and broke his nose. I don't know where he is. I left him lying in the snow after he fell. He's probably sitting in the Hospital Wing, telling some girl a made up tale of bravery or something stupid like that. I'm gonna go find him and tear him apart."

"Harry James Potter. You will be doing no such thing. I don't support what he did at all, but you should have talked with him, not punched him. Ron, violence is not the answer." Ron had started to protest Hermione's lecture, but quickly fell silent. "When he gets back from the hospital wing, you should talk with him and settle your differences. There is no need for you to end your friendship over this one thing."

"This is a pretty big thing, Hermione. I have never felt this betrayed in my life." Harry walked away from her and Ron, and ran immediately to the common room. He had no intention of going to dinner with the rest of the students, and instead just wanted to sit and think. Harry walked through the portrait hole, saw that no one was in Gryffindor House, and sat down in a chair by the fire. Harry lost all track of time as he sat by the fire, and he had no clue how long he had been there when he heard a very familiar voice.

"God damn Harry, remind me never to get you mad again. You sure can throw a punch." Xavier had stepped through the portrait hole, and Harry could see that his nose was fixed, but his robes were still covered in blood. He also had some blood left on his face, and his right eye was swollen. Harry didn't know whether to apologize for hitting him, or hit him again. Harry sat in indecision as Xavier pulled up a chair and began talking to him.

"Look, I made a mistake. Well multiple mistakes, anyway. I was a complete ass, betraying a friend like I did. We had something good going, and I ruined it. God, I feel so stupid right now. I don't know what to say right now." Xavier was loosing his cool and starting to talk fast and desperate. This was when Harry realized that Xavier genuinely felt bad for what he had done, because he had only seen Xavier loose his cool once the entire year. In that instant, Harry decided to give his new friend the benefit of the doubt and forgive his friend.

"You could shut up. Yeah, you did something nearly unforgivable. But since you saved my life, I'll forgive you this once. This is all the slack you're getting though. Friends?" Harry extended his hand, and with a smile on his face, Xavier took it. "Now tell me the truth, what happened with you and Cho?"

"Well, about three weeks ago, I was walking through the corridors late one night, and I heard her crying. I decided to do a nice thing for once, and see if I could comfort her. I started talking to her, and she told me about her ex who had been murdered. Next thing I knew, she was crying all over me. Then she said that she had really liked me from when we first met on the train, and that she wanted to get to know me. Alarms should have gone off, but they didn't, and things quickly accelerated from there. Next thing I know, I'm leading a double life. And then I eventually got sick and tired of her being miserable all the time, and well I kinda snapped. And that's it. Well the condensed version anyway."

"That's it? No extreme cold-blooded betrayal of trust? Alright, lets play a quick game of chess before everyone else comes back to the dorm." Harry was happy that his friend hadn't intended to go behind his back, and Xavier was happy he didn't get punched again, and that Harry accepted his apology.

Harry pulled out the chess pieces, and the two friends got into their game, and were trash talking back and forth. The game was even, as both Harry and Xavier were not that great at chess, and the game had lasted for over an hour when Ron, Hermione and Ginny walked into the common room. The three walked in without Harry or Xavier noticing, and just watched the chess game silently.

"CHECKMATE! Ha, Xavier, I took you down. Harry Potter, chess champion! And the crowd goes wild!" Harry was yelling, as he did not notice that other people had entered the common room.

"Uh, Harry…" Xavier whispered in his ear; "We're not alone in the common room anymore. Ron, Hermione, Ginny and a few others are back from dinner already."

"Ahh… Crap. I made a complete jackass out of myself, didn't I." Harry asked his friends.

"Yeah, you did." They all replied in unison. Hermione and Ginny thought it was "cute" that Harry and Xavier had settled their differences, but Ron didn't get it. He still expected Harry to throw a punch at Xavier, and this earned him a glare from everyone else at once. The rest of the night passed quickly, with the five Gryffindors talking and doing homework, before they went up to bed; preparing for the final week of classes before Christmas break, as well as the last D.A meeting before everyone left Hogwarts for home.


	9. One Crazy PreChristmas

**Chapter Nine: One Crazy Pre-Christmas**

"Potter, Weasley, Dalton! Stop acting like a bunch of first years and pay attention!" Professor McGonagall shrieked at the three boys who were having a sword fight with a bunch of Fred and George's prototype fake wands in the back of the class. Harry was holding a rubber chicken, Ron was still swinging a fake mackerel, and Xavier was staring dumbly at the fresh leek that he was holding. The class laughed at the three of them, and they all sat down in unison, faces turning red.

"You three are the most immature boys I have ever met. We should be trying to get ready for our OWL's and you three are hitting each other with rubber chickens and fish…" Hermione was starting to give them another lecture on their lack of focus on their studies.

"Ah, Hermione, you're forgetting about Xavier and the leek of death." Ron interrupted. He had been mercilessly beaten by Xavier and his leek when he had started the "sword" fight with Harry. Hermione had nothing to say to this, and muttered under her breath, and turned away and started paying attention to McGonagall again. After about five more minutes of class time, Professor McGonagall dismissed her students, and everyone filed out. As they walked to the Great Hall, Xavier was asking Harry what was going to happen at the upcoming D.A meeting.

"I think we are just going to review all of the things we have done already. Don't give me that look Xavier." Xavier was giving Harry a look of disappointment. "Just because you are fine on all the spells we have learned so far, doesn't mean a little review wont help."

"Fine, fine, you're the boss, Harry. And by the way Cho's been staring at you since we entered the Great Hall. If she were staring at me, it would be a death glare and not a smile."

Harry looked across the hall to the Ravenclaw table, and his eyes met Cho's for a brief second, and she smiled at him; before turning away and continuing to talk to her friends. Harry had no clue what to do about Cho. He had liked her for over a year now, but now that she was finally giving him attention, he was hesitant. The fact that she had gone out with Xavier, albeit briefly, made him unsure about what he actually now thought of her. Could he go out with a girl who just dated one of his best friends? Harry pondered this question for a brief instant, before he was brought abruptly back into the real world.

"Dude, you've been staring at your plate for five minutes now without eating or talking. I know the plates here are nice and all, but still that's still a bit excessive." Ron was laughing at Harry's sake as Xavier brought him back to reality. Soon everyone at the table was talking about their plans for Christmas. Xavier's parents were going to meet him at his uncle's house in London, and he was going to stay there for the break. Hermione was going skiing with her parents, and while Harry and Xavier thought this was cool, Ron laughed at the idea when Hermione explained to him and Ginny what skiing was. And Harry was invited to the Burrow for Christmas, and he was going with Ron and Ginny.

Harry was relieved to be leaving Hogwarts for Christmas. He had not been having a good year thus far. The only reasons he even stayed were for his friends and the D.A. But as he thought his friends were leaving without him, and most of the D.A was leaving as well, Harry was not looking forward to the Christmas break, until he was told he was going with Ron and Ginny back to the Burrow. Now he was excited for the Christmas holidays, and to be spending time with the closest thing he had to a family.

The conversation then turned to the fate of Hagrid. Everyone had been filled in by Harry and Hermione about his adventures over the summer, and the five of them were worried about him; after Umbridge's unfair inspection. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that Hagrid would be put on probation, but they were all hoping that he would last the year without getting fired. Although Xavier didn't really care for Hagrid that deeply, only just meeting him a week or two ago, he understood the attachment that Harry and Ron felt towards him, through stories that they had told him over the course of the year.

"She can't fire him, yet. He hasn't shown us anything too dangerous. I just hope he doesn't bring a dragon or something to class. Then he's gone." Harry said to the group sadly as he picked at the last bit of food on his plate.

As the others around the table trashed Umbridge and talked more about the upcoming holidays, Harry's thoughts turned to Sirius, who would be alone for Christmas. This made Harry feel somewhat guilty for going to the Burrow, as he would be leaving his godfather alone on Christmas. It pained Harry to imagine Sirius alone in the dark halls of Grimmauld Place, perhaps eating Christmas dinner with Kreacher. Before Harry knew it, he realized that he was running late for the D.A meeting. He decided to have Xavier help him set up, and his friend accepted begrudgingly.

When they entered the Room of Requirement, Xavier started laughing hysterically, and Harry's face turned bright red.

"Wow, Harry. Dobby made these decorations nice for Christmas. Have a very Harry Christmas! Ha, that's pretty funny." The D.A room was completely different than usual, as Dobby had decorated for Christmas. The centerpiece of his decorations was a hundred golden Christmas baubles, each with Harry's face on it, bearing the slogan that made Xavier laugh so much.

"Yeah, yeah, very funny. Now shut up and help me take these bloody things down." Harry replied grumpily

"They're not bloody, they're Harry."

"That's not funny at all. Your joke quality is starting to slip. Now let's get these down before anyone sees them…" Harry and Xavier worked on taking the Harry-themed décor down, and just as they took down the last bauble, Ginny, Luna, Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson, and Alicia Spinnet walked into the D.A room. Luna was the only one of the girls that looked even remotely dry, the others were soaked from yet another Quidditch practice.

"The team looks horrid, Harry. At least your _replacement _is pretty good." Angelina smiled at Ginny as she said this, but then turned to Harry and frowned. Harry wanted to yell at his former captain; he was already mad enough about being kicked off the team without her making him feel guilty. As the other D.A members filed in, Harry noticed Cho staring at him, and his stomach leapt; though not as high as it usually did when she smiled at him. Harry turned away and addressed the group members.

"Hi everyone, thanks for coming. Since this is our last meeting before the holidays, I thought we should just review all of the spells we have worked on so far." Everyone seemed to agree with this, except for Zacharias Smith; who was quickly shut up by Fred and George Weasley.

The group quickly went into practicing Stunning spells, and Harry was shocked to see how much Neville had improved over the year. When they had started Stunning spells, Neville couldn't even cast the spell properly. Now he had progressed to the point where he could Stun a fully prepared Xavier. After Neville had unfrozen Xavier three times, Xavier got up and remarked, "Damn, Neville. You're getting good at this fast…"

Harry watched this exchange between his two friends with pride. He was able to help Neville realize his magical talents, by teaching him good spell casting technique. Harry was walking around the room, checking on people's progress, and correcting faulty technique. He kept trying to resist the temptation to walk past Cho a few times in a row, and as a result never went near her for the first half of the meeting. Harry finally realized that he needed to check on her progress, and so he walked over.

"I'm sorry Marietta, I didn't mean to make your sleeve catch fire." Cho had miscast her spell when Harry was on his way over.

"Cho, that was really good." Cho glared at Harry, who was obviously lying through his teeth. "I mean that one was lousy, but I was watching from across the room, and you are doing really well." Harry tried to save the previous statement

"It's just that you make me nervous, Harry." Cho said as her cheeks reddened, and Harry walked away back to where Ron, Hermione, Xavier and Neville were practicing. When Harry got there, he could clearly see Xavier's knowing smirk.

"Harry, your face is bright red, and you're smiling blankly again. What did she say to you over there? I was watching as Neville disarmed me again." Xavier whispered questioningly

"She said I made her nervous, or something like that." Harry replied sheepishly.

"So, are you going to make your move or not? After this meeting would be about the best time you could…" Xavier replied, as Hermione and Ron finally noticed the whispered conversation.

"I guess I should. I'll hang back at the end of the meeting and see what happens… Wow, this is scarier than the dragon I faced in fourth year…"

"I'm sure you'll do fine, mate" Ron had finally connected the pieces and figured out what Harry was sweating over.

After more practice, the meeting was over, and everyone started leaving. Xavier, Ron and Hermione left Harry to "clean up" the D.A room alone, and Harry could see that Cho was trying to separate from her friend Marietta.

"No, you go ahead…" After Cho's friend left, she started towards Harry. But when she was one step from him, she broke down into tears.

"What's wrong, Cho?" Harry asked sadly. His heart fell though the floor. She wanted to talk about Cedric again.

"It's just that if Cedric knew all this stuff, maybe he would still be alive. First he is gone, and then I thought I found closure when I met Xavier. But after I realized he was an arrogant git, I was back where I started."

"Cedric really didn't have a chance against Lord Voldemort. If he wants to kill you, you're in trouble. And plus, he did know all of this stuff. He was really good, that's how he won the tournament."

"I'm sorry Harry, talking about Cedric like this. You saw him dead. I think you just want to forget it. I really like you, Harry." Cho had finally stopped crying, and took another step towards Harry. He was frozen, and his brain was empty

"Look, mistletoe." Harry said stupidly. Cho laughed and she took another step towards him. They were now only separated by a few inches. Harry was looking into her eyes and nearly melted on the spot…

"Hey lover boy, how'd it go with my kinda ex? 99 of guys would have punched you by now, including yourself, but I'm happy for you? Wow I'm messed up…" Xavier stood up from his chess game that was going badly. Ron's rook was beating Xavier's queen and Xavier was nearing defeat. Ron was watching his conquest of Xavier's pieces with delight and initially didn't notice Harry walk into the Gryffindor common room about a half an hour after they left him alone in the D.A room.

"Well, uh we, well." Harry was sputtering. He honestly didn't know what to say. While he and Cho had kissed, Harry hadn't felt the magic that he had been expecting for the past two years. He wasn't sure if that meant that he hadn't gotten over the fact that Xavier had been with Cho, or that maybe Cho wasn't the girl for him. Harry was really confused about what to tell his friends. And plus, Cho's face was still wet from her tears before she had kissed him.

"Someone sounds like they just kissed someone else. I won't tell any names, but one of them has black hair and glasses." Xavier was laughing at Harry's obvious confusion, before he was interrupted by Hermione.

"Honestly, Xavier. You can be so blunt and immature at times. You of all people should understand what Harry's thinking right now. And you too, Ron. It's really not that funny.." She was glaring at both of them simultaneously somehow. Ron had given a triumphant fist pump for his friend's success, but now was on the ground laughing hysterically at Harry's stuttering.

"I know exactly what he's thinking, but it's still freaking hilarious." Xavier responded to Hermione's criticism with a statement that caused her to glare at him again.

"It took you long enough, Harry. Two years and you finally pulled it off. So did you ask her out?" Ron's laughing had subsided, and he could finally speak coherently.

"No. I didn't ask her out…" Harry answered truthfully. He knew that everyone would be really confused about why he didn't ask her. But the truth was that Harry was not really sure that he wanted to. As he thought this, he cast a quick glance at Ginny, who was laughing at something one of her friends had said to her.

"Harry? You are going to ask her out, right?" Hermione was looking at Harry with a knowing look on her face.

"I don't know, maybe, I'm not really sure. But I am going to bed right now…" Harry walked out, still stunned about what had happened between him and Cho. Harry climbed the stairs to his dorm, and quickly fell to sleep after getting into his bed.

"Ron! Your father. He's been attacked!" Harry managed to yell this out before he vomited onto the floor. Ron rushed over to Harry, while Xavier and Neville ran out of the room, presumably looking for a teacher of some sort.

"Harry, it was just a dream…" responded Ron wearily. It was late at night, and he was tired.

"No, this was a vision. I could just tell I was there… by the pain in my scar…" Harry lowered his voice so Seamus and Dean couldn't hear him. Harry glanced over to where Seamus and Dean were whispering and glared. They probably thought he was a nutter, but he knew he was right.

"Ron, your father was attacked. I don't know how, why, or where, but he was attacked…"

"Potter, Longbottom and Dalton said you had a dream or a vision…" Professor McGonagall had entered the dormitory, followed by a winded Neville and Xavier.

"Ron's dad has been attacked… I'm sure it wasn't a dream…" Harry responded desperately. Mr. Weasley needed help fast or he would die.

"Very well, Potter. I shall take you to see the headmaster." McGonagall said and continued, "Weasley, you should come true. Dalton, Longbottom, Finnegan, Thomas, not a word about this to anyone, especially Professor Umbridge. Understood?"

The other boys agreed, and Harry and Ron followed their Head of House out of the dormitory, towards Professor Dumbledore's office.

"Harry, describe your vision for me. What viewpoint were you in: were you a bystander, or were you involved in the attack?" Professor Dumbledore asked Harry in a soft voice once they had all sat down in the kindly headmaster's office. Harry then told Dumbledore everything that he had witnessed in his vision, and Dumbledore looked over to two of the portraits on the wall and said, "Everard, Dilys, you were listening?"

Everard was the one who responded affirmatively, and Dumbledore continued, "Arthur Weasley has been attacked. Please make sure he is found by the right people. Dilys, can you keep watch from your Ministry portrait?"

Ron was flabberghasted, "How do you know where my father is? Not even Harry knew, and he was there."

"Mr. Weasley, your father has been injured in his work for the Order of the Phoenix. That is why I know exactly where he is. Those portraits are near him, and they will be able to get help for your father."

"Albus, they just wheeled him past my portrait in St. Mungo's. He is still alive, but it doesn't look good." Dilys had returned to her portrait first.

"Thank you, Dilys. Minerva, get the rest of the Weasley's. I will be sending them and Mr. Potter to Grimmauld Place. It's much closer to the hospital than the Burrow.

After all of the Weasley's had arrived in Dumbledore's office, and the plans to Portkey to Sirius's house had been finalized, Dumbledore still wanted to talk to the children, to reassure them; and also to gain more information on Harry's visit. But there was no time…

"Professor Dumbledore, sir, Umbridge is coming! I tried to make up some excuse for Harry and the Weasleys being gone, but she's on her way here!"

"Thank you, Mr. Dalton. Now get back to your dormitory before she finds you. I wouldn't want you getting a detention for a good deed." Dumbledore responded to a wheezing Xavier, who had sprinted all the way from Gryffindor Tower to warn about the approaching Umbridge.

"Alright everyone gather around the Portkey, and I'll send you off." Said Dumbledore quickly. The next fifteen seconds were chaotic in the headmaster's office, as the Portkey took off, Xavier ran out through the door, careened down the hallway, and Professor Umbridge burst into the office, and the headmaster acted like nothing had happened. The toad like D.A.D.A teacher left Dumbledore's office a few minutes later, trying to figure out how the children managed to leave the school from under her watch.

"He's going to be alright! We can visit him in the afternoon." Mrs. Weasley burst into the kitchen of Grimmauld Place, beaming at the good news of her husband's survival. Harry, Ron, Ginny, Fred, George and Sirius had been sitting around the table throughout the night, anxiously waiting for news on Mr. Weasley's condition.

"See, I told you that he would be alright…" Harry whispered over to Ginny. Harry had been trying to reassure her most of the night that her father was going to make it, and everyone in the room was ecstatic. Ron downed his entire butterbeer in one swig, and Fred and George jumped up and started dancing on the kitchen table. Sirius and Harry stood up and silently left the room to allow the family to celebrate together.

_AN: Sorry about taking so long again… but my schedule has been horrible lately. But I've already started the next chapter, so that will be up in a few days. Hope you continue to read the story, and don't be afraid to drop a review with what you think._


	10. Parties, Presents and a Coin Flip

**Chapter Ten: Parties, Presents and a Coin-Flip**

"Yo, Harry! It must be getting really boring in there all by yourself. Come out, dude." Xavier was yelling through the door to Harry, who had been trying to isolate himself from everyone since the visit to the hospital. Harry had heard Mad-Eye Moody tell Tonks and Remus that he was being possessed by Lord Voldemort.

"Xavier, you're really going about this the wrong way… Here let me try." Harry could hear Hermione on the other side of the door. Harry didn't know that they had came, but he wasn't that surprised that they had shown up after the events with Mr. Weasley. "Harry, please come out, we want to talk to you…" Hermione was pleading with him, and Harry finally relented.

"Alright, I'm coming out, but you really don't want to be near me, Hermione and Xavier…" Harry opened the door and stepped out into the hall, where he saw a finally smiling Hermione, a glaring Xavier, a confused Ron, and Ginny with a look that could kill on her face. She reminded him a lot of her mother when she had this look, and Harry could not bear to look into her brown eyes.

"Yeah, we know… You're being possessed by an evil dark nut. Ginny told us you've been shutting yourself away for the last two days. We don't care. We've realized by now that being friends with evil's number one target might carry some risks. But, hey, that's what makes life fun, aint it?" Xavier spoke for the group, and Harry was starting to see his point when Ginny whispered:

"Why have you been avoiding us, Harry? Especially me. I'm the only person that you know that has been possessed by Voldemort." Harry could see a single tear fall down her cheek, and Harry felt horrible.

"I'm sorry, Ginny. I wasn't thinking. I just didn't want anyone that I care about to get hurt." And in a whisper that no one could hear, he added, "Especially you, Ginny."

"Harry, have you ever blanked out for long periods of time? Have you ever ended up somewhere and not known how you got there?" Ginny asked Harry, who started thinking back. A smile came to his face as he realized that he couldn't think of a time when that phenomenon had occurred.

"Plus, you were thrashing around in your bed for about a minute before you actually woke up." Ron finally spoke for the first time since Harry had exited the room.

"And, if you ever pick up _Hogwarts, A History_, you will read it and realize that you cannot Apparate or Disapparate in Hogwarts." There was only one person in the corridor who had actually read that book, and she spoke reasonably to Harry.

"So, I'm not the weapon? Bloody brilliant…" Harry finally laughed for the first time since he had heard Moody's proclamation. He couldn't breathe as Hermione and Ginny rushed towards him and put him into a bone crushing hug. When he finally managed to surface for air, he shook Ron's hug, and Xavier gave him the typical half-handshake, half high five that only he gave Harry.

"Let's get some food guys, I'm really hungry…" Harry walked down to the kitchen, followed by his four friends, who were delighted to have him back.

Harry was sitting alone in his room, just thinking about the dilemma that had been troubling him for the past month or so. Should he choose Cho, his longtime crush, but who was close to a mental breakdown, or Ginny; the friend that he knew would be always there for him, but his best mate's sister. He knew he liked them both; a lot, in their own different ways. Cho's smile, Ginny's laugh. Cho's hair, Ginny's eyes. He didn't know who he liked best. But deep down, he knew he had to leave his room with an answer. Ginny or Cho? Harry sat for a good hour, and had made a list of parchment of positives and negatives for both of the girls he liked, and after an hour, re-read the list. Both girls were exactly even in positives and negatives. Harry cursed, he wasn't making it easy for himself. But then he heard a small voice in his head, saying, "Just flip a coin. You'll know what you feel when the coin chooses for you. Then you'll be sure of who you truly like best." Harry smiled, finally a solution. He rummaged through his pocket, pulled out a spare Galleon, and flicked it into the air. He looked at it when it landed, and saw which girl the coin had chosen. Harry then knew deep down who he liked best. He tossed the coin to himself, put it back into his pocket, and grinning walked out of his room, hearing Mrs. Weasley's call that dinner was ready in the background.

"Hey, Harry… Presents!" Ron woke up yelling on Christmas morning. Harry felt around his nightstand for his glasses, and putting them on, had the face of his best friend slowly come into focus.

"Bloody hell, Ron! Did you really have to wake me up so early?" Harry looked at the clock in their room, it read 6:05 AM. "Guess I'm really not used to this whole Christmas thing yet…" Harry muttered to himself before getting out of bed. When Harry reached the Christmas tree in the hallway, he could see that Hermione, Fred, George and Ginny were already there.

"Merry Christmas, Harry!" They all yelled in unison. The room soon dissolved into a mass of wrapping paper as the five teens began to open their presents. Harry got a homework planner from Hermione, spellbooks for the D.A from Sirius and Lupin, a furry brown wallet with fangs from Hagrid, a model Firebolt from Tonks, candy from Ron, the usual jumper and pies from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and an English Quidditch team poster from Ginny. Harry reached for his last small box, and pulled out a gold rectangle, and looked at it quizzically. He picked up the note that was sitting on the bottom of the box, and began to read:

_Yo,_ _Harry:_

_Merry Christmas. I got you, Ron and Ginny matching gifts. In case you don't know, these are cell phones. I got them for you guys so we can all communicate. I already programmed the phones with everyone else's phone numbers to make it easy for you guys. Call me when you open this. I'll let you figure out the rest. By the way, I'm going to stop by later for Christmas lunch. I'm looking forward to the food. And tell the others thanks for the gifts._

_Xavier_

Harry flipped open his phone, and saw that the background was a picture of him,

Xavier and Ginny before the first Quidditch game of the season. Xavier and Ginny were wearing their Gryffindor colors, and Harry was wearing his Quidditch robes. Harry then saw a page titled contacts corresponding to a small blue button on the top of the keypad. He pushed it, and saw the names of his four friends pop up in alphabetical order. Harry scrolled down to Xavier's name, and pushed the green send button. Surprisingly to Harry, it actually worked, and Calling… Xavier was now flashing on the screen.

"That jersey you gave me is the shit, Harry. I love it, man." Harry smiled when Xavier answered the call. Harry had given Xavier a Red Sox jersey that allowed him to change the name and number on the back with a simple charm.

"The phone you gave me is pretty cool too. I'm still trying to figure everything out, but I'm not as clueless as Ron and Ginny. Hermione's helping them out. They love the phones, by the way. So how were the last few days?" Harry responded

"Good, real good. It was really nice to see my parents again. They were fucking pissed about me leaving, and my dad and I got into another fight. But we made up, and we're all cool now. They understand why I wanted to leave and get a fresh start, but they still wanted me to stay closer to home. My uncle is really chill about the whole thing, and my whole family is staying with him until I go back to school." Xavier was talking fast. Harry had never heard him say the reasons for coming to England, and Harry definitely did not know that Snape was the only other person who actually knew. Harry was about to ask him, but Harry knew that he should let Xavier tell him if he wanted, and not force him to talk about something that he wanted to keep hidden.

The two friends talked for about ten minutes before Xavier hung up, telling Harry he was getting in the car to drive over to Grimmauld Place. Harry walked back to the present room, where his friends were waiting for him.

"Thanks for the Broom Compass, Harry. Beats Hermione's homework planner by a longshot." Ron was smiling and holding his blue phone.

"Harry, I really like the locket. It's beautiful." Ginny hugged Harry and he blushed a little, but no one noticed. Ginny was holding her pink phone and wearing the gold locket that Harry had given her. The picture inside was of the two of them in the snow. Harry had gotten Colin Creevey to hide by the castle one day, and he took a perfect picture of Harry and Ginny walking back to the castle covered in snow.

"I really like the book, Harry." Hermione was holding her new Arithmancy textbook that Harry had gotten her, as well as the perfume that Ron had bought for her. When Harry saw the perfume, he had to stifle a laugh. It was obvious to him that Hermione and Ron had feelings for each other, but they didn't have the guts to admit it to each other. Harry saw Ron's gift as his admission, but the normally brilliant Hermione either didn't get it, or didn't want to admit it.

Everyone then proceeded to grab a quick breakfast, and in the middle of the meal there was a knock on the door. Harry was the closest person to the door, and pulled it open to see the smiling face of Xavier standing in the cold, a small car in his hand.

"Is that…?" Harry asked him.

"Yep, that's the Mustang. I couldn't leave my baby in the cold, now could I? So I just shrunk it, and I'll deshrink it before I drive home later." Xavier stepped into the house and slipped his car into his jacket pocket. When Xavier pulled off his blue football jacket, Harry saw that Xavier was wearing the Red Sox jersey.

"Wow, Xavier. You would put your own name on the jersey first…" Harry snickered as he noticed that Xavier's jersey said Dalton and was number 25.

"Well, I think that it looks good. And plus it goes with the name and number on my football jacket. So have Ron and Ginny figured out the phones yet?" Xavier asked Harry as they walked through the house.

That question was answered as Xavier's and Harry's phones both rang simultaneously. Xavier's ring tone was some Muggle rock song that Harry did not know. Harry's was a song by the Weird Sisters that Xavier had put on for him. Ron was calling Xavier, and Ginny was calling Harry; and the siblings both said;

"Yes, we got the phones to work… All by ourselves, without anybody helping us." Harry could imagine Hermione's glare at not being credited. Both hung up, and the boys laughed.

"Guess they overheard your doubts…" Harry muttered to Xavier as they walked into the kitchen, where Ron and Ginny rushed to Xavier, thanking him for the phones. Xavier responded by thanking Ron for the chasers gloves and Ginny for the Weird Sister's music that she bought him. Xavier wished everyone in the room a Merry Christmas, and sat down to a plate of food shoved in front of him by Mrs. Weasley. The atmosphere in the room was as happy as Harry had seen at Grimmauld Place, and before he knew it, they were piling into Mundungus's "borrowed" car for the trip to St. Mungo's to visit Mr. Weasley.

After arriving at St. Mungo's, everyone piled into the ward where Arthur was staying, and he was thrilled that he had guests on Christmas. But before they could have any meaningful conversation beyond a Merry Christmas, Mrs. Weasley noticed something. "Arthur, why have your bandages been changed a day early?"

Mr. Weasley was clearly worried, as he responded slowly and with a fake nonchalance in his voice, "Well, the trainee healer, is interested in complementary medicine. Muggle remedies if you will. And well he had an idea, these things called _stitches_. Well we thought they might work…"

Mrs. Weasley's voice began to rise to near boiling level, and she responded, "Arthur, it sounds like that you were trying to sew your skin back together. Even for you that's incredibly stupid." At this the three teens with Muggle knowledge quickly fled the room, knowing what stitches were. Sensing an eruption from their mother, Ginny and Ron quickly followed suit.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT'S THE GENERAL IDEA!?" they could hear Mrs. Weasley in full explosion now.

"Honestly, _stitches?_ What was Dad thinking?" Ginny was shaking her head as they walked towards the tearoom.

"Well, stitches do work well on non-magical wounds. I guess there is something in the snake's venom that dissolves the stitches or something…" Hermione commented.

"Let's all get to the fifth floor, I'm thirsty." Xavier blurted out, and everyone looked at him.

After an interesting walk up the stairs, where an old wizard in a portrait accused Ron of having spattergroit, the group reached a landing. Thinking it was the fifth floor, Hermione walked to the landing door, when they saw a familiar face.

"Oh! It's Professor Lockhart!" Hermione squealed. The professor had not lost any of his good looks, but he did have a somewhat glazed look in his eyes. The pompous man still thought he had a fan following, and asked them if they wanted signed portraits. A Healer quickly found them, and the teens followed her and Lockhart back to his ward. They were there for a minute, before the Healer said something that made Harry really nervous,

"Mrs. Longbottom, leaving already?" Harry had no idea how to distract his friends so Neville could leave undetected. But before he could find a way he heard;

"Neville! Hey Neville! It's us. Ron, Ginny, Xavier, Hermione and Harry." Ron had shouted out to his friend.

"Friends of yours, dear?" Harry heard Mrs. Longbottom ask Neville, who nodded. He and his grandmother walked over to the gang, and Mrs. Longbottom stuck out her hand to Harry and said regally, "Ah, yes, you must be Harry Potter. Very nice to meet you." Harry shook her hand quickly, and she turned to Ron and Ginny and again spoke. "And you two must be Weasleys. Good people, good people." She turned to Xavier next, and stopped for a second.

"Name's Xavier Dalton. American exchange student from Los Angeles Academy of Magic. I'm a good friend of Neville's as well. I'm in the same year as him, Harry and Ron." Xavier spoke quickly before Mrs. Longbottom need ask for his name.

"Wait, Neville. Who have you been visiting? We were visiting Professor Lockhart." Ron blurted this out after Xavier was done introducing himself, and soon Neville's grandmother went into a long lecture about the sad fate of Neville's parents. Harry felt more and more horrible for his friend as the lecture went on, and thankfully, they managed to escape the ward after she was done.

"Hey, Harry! Toss me another butterbeer will ya?" Xavier yelled across his uncle's basement to Harry. Harry frowned, but tossed his friend a bottle, and Xavier caught it, and took a swig of the sweet drink.

"And Smith scores again for Puddlemere bringing the score to 90-20, with the Chudley Cannons trailing yet another game." Ron groaned as his team continued to fail. Xavier's parents and uncle wanted to meet his new friends, so most of the Gryffindor fifth, sixth and seventh years were all in Richard Dalton's basement, listening to the Puddlemere-Chudley Quidditch game over WWN.

Richard Dalton, Xavier's uncle, was a jolly and humorous old man, and Harry thought that Xavier got his knack for badly told jokes from his uncle. Xavier's father, John, was slightly shorter than his son, and had the same messy hair. Xavier's mother, Susan, was a short woman who had Xavier's eyes and general facial shape. Harry liked both of Xavier's parents as soon as he met them. Interestingly enough, Xavier's personality was more like that of his uncle than either his mother or his father.

"And Hass of Puddlemere catches the Snitch. What a phenomenal catch there. No hands on the broom. He stole the game there as Chudley's seeker was about to catch it. The final score is 160-20. Puddlemere improves to 4-2. The Cannons drop to 1-5. That's it from us here at the pitch…" Ron turned off the radio in disgust, and threw his Cannons hat across the room in anger.

"Everyone, let's really get this party started! Let's do something fun." Xavier yelled as he was opening yet another butterbeer. Hermione, Ginny, Angelina Johnson, and Katie Bell suggested truth or dare, and the game quickly begun.

Almost everyone was picking truth at the beginning of the game, except for Xavier, who accepted Fred's dare to kiss George. Xavier managed to do it, and he and George made it fake-romantic, getting cheers from the rest of the group. Ron's fear of spiders was next to be revealed. Hermione was forced to tell everyone that her favorite hobby was reading a new academic book, which Fred, George, Ron and Xavier all laughed at. And then the question was posed to Harry from George.

"Ahh. Harry. Truth or Dare?" Harry definitely did not want to take his chances with a dare, and so he responded truth

"You're a coward, Harry." Xavier muttered, and Harry punched him in the stomach lightly.

"So, tell me Harry, do you fancy anyone right now, and are they in this room?" George asked with an evil grin on his face. Harry felt like he had been the one punched in the stomach. He looked around, and found Ginny looking at him with an odd, almost anticipating look on her face. Harry looked at her quickly, before he flushed red, and looked down, saying,

"Yes… and yes."

_AN: I know I took really long with this last update. But I finally got my life in order so updates are going to come faster. And Harry takes more risks as a result of Xavier's influence, like the coin flip for example. Canon Harry would not have done that, but my Harry is slightly changing from his new influences._


	11. Immaturity and a New Headmistress

**Chapter Eleven: Immaturity and a New Headmistress**

Christmas break was over, and all of the students were returning to Hogwarts. As Harry got off the Knight bus with Ron, Hermione and Ginny, he could see a car driving up to the Hogwarts gates. Xavier jumped out of his car, locked it, pocketed his keys, and then shrank the car with a flick of his wand, and he placed the car with his keys in his jeans pocket.

"Hey everybody, how was the trip here? It sucked driving through the snow…" Xavier was yelling over the wind to the group departing the bus.

"It was… bloody horrible. The bloody bus kept pitching me onto the floor…" Ron yelled as he rubbed a red lump that was growing on the back of his head. As the five friends proceeded to the gate, Harry felt a hand on his shoulder hold him back. Startled, he turned to face Hermione, who waited for the others to get out of earshot, and then asked,

"So, Harry… How long have you fancied her?"

"Since the end of third year… You knew that. Why are you asking me this?" Harry answered quickly and defensively to her question.

"Not Cho, Harry. How long have you liked Ginny?" Hermione asked him with a hint of a smile on her face. Harry couldn't believe that Hermione knew. Harry had been hiding it very carefully. He assumed that everyone assumed that he still liked Cho.

"Damn, Hermione. How did you know? You're all good with feelings and stuff… but still damn…" Harry's face was starting to redden.

"The way you've looked at her for the last couple of months, Harry. I could just tell. I think I may have known before you even knew yourself. So when did you?" Hermione persisted with her original question.

"I know this may sound funny, but… I knew right as I was kissing Cho. It just didn't feel right. And then I thought about it for a while the next couple of days and realized that I in fact fancied Ginny, and not Cho." (Harry declined to mention that a lucky Galleon had helped him out a little bit in his decision making)

"Have you told Ron about how you feel yet?" Hermione asked

"Ahh… crap. I completely forgot about that. I was more focused on how to tell Ginny. But that is another problem. He'll probably react like how I reacted when Xavier told me he had dated Cho." Harry was starting to get worried.

"I'm sure that Ron won't actually take a swing at you, Harry…" Hermione said to Harry in an attempt to reassure him, but she thought to herself, "But what if Ron does hit Harry? I guess Xavier could step in… I just hope no one gets hurt… But on a brighter note, Ginny fancies Harry, and Harry fancies Ginny, so as long as one of them has the courage to tell the other one…"

Meanwhile, Harry was thinking back to that moment when he broke Xavier's nose. He realized that he had forgiven him because he saw a little bit of himself in Xavier's predicament. Both because of the Ron and Ginny situation, but also because if Harry didn't forgive Xavier, he'd pretty much be alone in England, and Harry didn't want him to go through a similar experience as Harry's childhood before Hogwarts, where he really had no friends. Both Harry and Hermione's flying thoughts were interrupted quickly when a shout hit their ears.

"What are you guys doing walking in back of us?" Xavier yelled to Harry and Hermione. They quickly ran to catch up to their friends, and soon they reached the warm castle…

"So this Occul-thingy that you have to learn… You have to take extra lessons with Snape? Damn, that really sucks. I feel for you man. I'd rather kiss Snape than take lessons with him…" Xavier added some sarcasm to his pity for his friend. Harry and Ron were filling Xavier in on the rest of their break. Ron had slipped in his dominance of Harry in chess, and Harry had punched him in the arm in response.

"Very funny, Xavier… I'm hoping these lessons won't be that bad… Snape's kind of greasy for my taste…" Harry muttered so Professor Trelawney did not hear him. The three boys were not paying attention in Divination as usual, but no one noticed.

"Hey Harry, two Galleons that I can bounce this crumpled piece of parchment off Neville's head." Xavier showed Harry the ball of parchment, and Harry was getting really bored, so he accepted the bet.

"Alright, you ready to pay me?" Xavier asked as he lined up his shot, and he threw the ball. It flew past Trelawney, but landed on Dean's head instead of Neville's, who was sitting to the right of Dean. Dean looked around, and threw the parchment back at Xavier, but missed and hit Ron. Soon after, Ron threw a parchment and hit Neville, instead of Dean.

"Now look what you did. You started a paper fight. And you owe me two Galleons… Bloody hell, Neville." Harry yelled as a paper ball thrown by Neville hit him in the face. Soon the Gryffindor boys were engaged in a full-scale paper war, but Trelawney was not pleased, and she screamed:

"ALL OF YOU, GET OUT OF MY CLASS, AND SEE YOUR HEAD OF HOUSE!"

"Wow…" Ron whispered to Harry, "Never seen her snap like that before…" The group of boys descended down the ladder, laughing at what had just happened. Xavier flipped two Galleons to Harry as they walked down the hall to Professor McGonagall's office.

"Xavier, you're knocking on her door since you started it…" Harry and Ron shoved their friend up to the door of Minerva McGonagall's office, and Xavier tapped the door twice.

"Mr. Dalton, why are you here… Ah I see you're joined by a few of your friends. Misters Potter, Weasley, Thomas, Finnigan and Longbottom." Professor McGonagall had opened her door, and Harry could see that her desk was covered in papers, but everything else in her office was neat.

"Lets see here…" the Gryffindor head of house waved her wand, and began to read the piece of paper that had appeared. "You boys are supposed to be in Divination. So why are you here?" McGonagall said harshly.

"Well, you see… Professor, I was attempting to dispose of my Divination notes, since I was taking notes and miswrote something. And I didn't want to get up and disrupt the class, or start using spells, which would also have disrupted the other students…"

"And this has to do with six Gryffindor boys being out of their scheduled class how, Mr. Dalton?" McGonagall was staring daggers at Xavier, and he began to get flustered.

"Well, I propelled my piece of paper towards a trash receptacle. And my throw was well… off target shall we say. It landed on the head of Mr. Thomas, who returned a projectile, which hit Mr. Weasley. So I was just trying to dispose of my trash. We all were. We just have bad aim that's all." Xavier finished and looked rather pleased with himself.

"That may be the worst excuse for acting out in class I have ever heard, Mr. Dalton. You are very lucky I have more important things to deal with right now. All of you back to your Common Room now, and stay there until the next class starts." Minerva McGonagall closed her door, and was shocked at how much Xavier Dalton was starting to remind her of another student she had taught and punished with many detentions. She smiled, and thought of how much Xavier was like Sirius Black. She wondered if anyone else in the school or the Order had noticed the similarities.

"Nice one, Xavier. That was bloody hilarious, watching you try to get us of trouble." Ron was mocking him.

"Well, at least it worked didn't it? And we've got half an hour free now. So you should be thanking me for my quick thinking, not making a joke out of it."

"Ok, whatever. You still sounded stupid though." Xavier muttered the password to the Fat Lady, who opened the portrait hole to Gryffindor Tower, and the six boys stepped into the tower.

"Mr. Potter, welcome to Occulmency lessons…" Professor Snape scowled at his student…

The next three hours turned out to be a blur for Harry the next day. All he could remember were the basics of the lesson, and the fact that Snape kept picking into his mind, and mocking his memories, both good and bad. Harry woke up the next morning with a killer headache, and then he puked into a bucket that was conveniently on the floor.

"Hermione told me you might feel like this after that. She said it should get better though." Ron was looking at his best friend with concern as Harry rummaged around his night table for his glasses.

"And what do you have planned for this beautiful Saturday morning?" Ron asked Harry

"I have some things to take care of. And I have to plan for the D.A meeting tonight. We are going to be doing Patronuses, so it'll be a fun meeting." Harry quickly got dressed and walked out of the dormitory.

Harry was skimming through a book that detailed the wand movements and theories behind casting a proper Patronus charm. He was skimming through it quickly to see if there was anything that Professor Lupin had failed to teach him in the third year that the D.A might need to know. As he read, he heard a familiar voice, one he was very happy to hear.

"Harry, do you mind if I sit here with you?" Ginny asked him.

"Of course, Ginny. Sit down. I'm just finishing preparing for the D.A meeting tonight. It's going to be one of the more fun meetings of the year so far.

"Here, Harry." Ginny handed him a package. "It's an Easter egg from Mum. They just got through Umbridge's mail screening."

"Thanks a lot, Gin." Harry looked into her brown eyes and smiled. He was happy that he could spend time with her, because he hadn't had a chance to in quite some time. She smiled right back and said:

"Harry, what are you so happy about?" She looked somewhat tense as she said this.

"Oh its nothing really…" He looked at her, and decided that he was going to tell her now, while they were alone and he had a chance to.

"Ginny… there's something that I have to tell you. I… I…" Harry was having trouble getting the words out, and Ginny was thrilled. She thought that she was finally going to hear the words she had been dreaming about since she was ten. When Harry James Potter finally admitted that he liked her, Ginny Weasley.

"I think that we are going to have to get out of here…" Ginny's heart was broken for half a second, until she turned around and realized why Harry had said this

"CHOCOLATE IN THE LIBRARY! OUT BOTH OF YOU! NOW!" Madam Pince, the Hogwarts librarian was yelling at them, and soon Harry and Ginny were running out of the library, as their books chased them and began to beat them over the head. Ginny and Harry spent the rest of the afternoon together, but Harry never found the right moment to tell Ginny his feelings for her. He wanted it to be special for some reason.

When Harry and Ginny walked back into the common room before dinner, Hermione shot Harry a quick look. Harry shook his head no, and Hermione smiled sadly. No one else in the room caught this exchange. Ron and Xavier were too busy playing chess to even notice the fact that Harry and Ginny had walked into the room together, after both being out the entire day. Harry was silently thankful for this and sat down next to Xavier, and whispered something in his ear.

"I think I know a way you can win this game…" Xavier laughed. There was no way he would beat Ron at chess. It just was not doable. But then Xavier noticed Harry sit down on a chair with Ginny, and soon Ron was quite distracted. He was trying to figure out what Harry and Ginny were doing and saying, and soon his chess play suffered. He was watching as Ginny laughed at Harry's jokes, and Harry had a goofy smile on his face the entire time. Xavier was catching up, taking one of Ron's rooks and his queen. But then Ron realized the whisper between Harry and Xavier had been to plan Ron's downfall, and the Gryffindor chess champion picked his game back up, and barely beat his friend. As Ron walked away, he stopped next to Harry, and said,

"Nice try. But it will take more than that for someone else here to beat me at chess. You of all people should know that." Ron frowned and went back to the dorms.

"It wasn't just a plan to have you loose at chess, Ron…" Harry whispered to himself, so that no one else could hear him.

But all animosity was forgotten as Harry and Ron walked down to dinner. Ron had thought the "chemistry" between his sister and his best friend had been a trick to make him lose a chess game. When Harry didn't deny this, Ron laughed and they soon got to talking about the D.A meeting that was going to happen that night.

"What's the meeting going to be on, Harry?" Ron asked him right before they entered the Great Hall.

"You'll just have to wait and see like everyone else. But I do promise it will be fun." Harry responded quickly, and Ron frowned. But all disappointment on Ron's part was quickly forgotten when he sat down and began shoveling food down his throat.

"Great job, Hermione." Harry yelled over the crowd. She was watching her otter Patronus float through the Room of Requirement. When Harry had began the lesson thirty minutes prior, everyone was excited at the prospect of making their own Patronuses. But after half the lesson, only Hermione had done it so far. The group was starting to get frustrated.

"Harry, I got one!" Cho Chang squealed in delight. Harry noticed a swan had joined Hermione's otter in floating over the students.

Just then, Harry felt a tugging at his pants. Looking down, he noticed someone that he didn't expect to see. It was Dobby.

"Master Harry, she's coming!" Harry immediately knew the danger. Someone had busted them. Umbridge knew about the D.A and was coming to capture them.

"Everybody RUN!" Harry shouted.

_Xavier's POV_

I heard Harry shout to run, and I ran over to him, and asked him what was up. He said that Umbridge was coming to bust the D.A. So I took off out the door. Being the first one out, I noticed the coast was clear for now, and motioned for everyone to follow. I knew that there was a secret passage behind a portrait down the hall. So I sprinted over to it, and jumped in. I ran through the passage, and exited near the library. I knew that I was in the clear now, since it wasn't even curfew yet, so I calmly strolled back to the common room. I was hoping that I was the last one back, and that all of us got out safe, but I wasn't going to get my wish. I could just feel it…

_Ginny's POV_

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Someone had betrayed us to that toad. I heard Harry tell Xavier, so I ran down the hall. There was a girl's bathroom nearby. But then I realized that Umbridge would probably look there. So I turned around and ran down the corridor left, because I heard voices coming from the right. Reaching a staircase, I ran upwards, and getting my bearings, I realized that I was by the Owlery. I walked into the massive room, and laid low there for about fifteen minutes, before I made my way back to the Gryffindor common room. I just hope Harry gets out safely. He stayed back, and I think he was the last to leave…

_Ron's POV_

Bloody hell. I followed a crowd out the door. People were going in every different direction. I knew that there was a fake wall that was actually an alcove that I could hide in while the trouble passed. I dove in just as I heard Umbridge yell "Don't let any of them get away!" I just hoped no one helping her knew about my hiding spot. I think me, Harry, Fred and George are the only ones who know…

No one found me. After I heard the voices die down and go away, I sprinted as fast I could back to the common room. I needed to know if everyone had escaped.

_Hermione's POV_

I saw Xavier run out first, followed by Ginny and Ron. Harry was trying to get everyone out. I was one of the last to leave. Looking once more at Harry, I went to the girls bathroom nearby. I could hide there. Right as I closed the door, I heard Umbridge tell Millicent Bulstrode to check the bathroom that I was in. Thinking quickly, I stood on the toilet and locked the stall door, so it looked like no one was there from the outside of the stall. She walked in, paced through a couple of times, and walked out. I was safe. Once I could not hear Professor Umbridge screaming orders anymore, I poked my head out the door, saw the coast was clear, and went back to the common room.

Xavier was the first one back to the common room. He ran up to the boys dorm first, hoping that Ron and Harry were there. Frustrated that they weren't, he ran down by the fireplace, and saw a familiar red-headed girl enter through the portrait hole.

"Ginny, have you seen any of the others? I haven't" Xavier yelled down the stairs and slid down the banister towards her.

"No I haven't, I thought I was the first one back until I heard you yell… How did you escape?" She asked him quickly, out of breath from running back from the Owlery.

"Secret passage Harry showed me. You?"

"Harry… he took the fall for us, didn't he?" Ginny asked, tears coming to her eyes. What would Harry do if he was expelled…

"I'm sure he's fine…" Xavier was trying to comfort her, and then Ron ran in.

"Xavier, Ginny! Are Hermione and Harry back yet?" Seeing his sister's tears, Ron knew. When Xavier shook his head sadly, Ron sat down on one of the couches by the fire.

"Well we should wait for them, shouldn't we?" Ron asked, and the others nodded. After about five minutes, Hermione walked into the room, and noticed Harry wasn't there.

"He was the last to leave wasn't he?" Ron asked her

"Of course he was. That's just who Harry is. I just hope he didn't get caught…"

"Should I go back out and look for him?" Xavier asked the group. He and Ron started to get up.

"NO. You two will not be doing such a thing. It's past curfew. And he wouldn't want you risking it." Hermione responded.

"The Map!" Ron gasped. He had a thought. They could check where Harry was. They just hoped Harry didn't have the Marauder's map on him. Ron sprinted up to the boys dorm with Xavier, and they returned shortly after, Ron triumphantly holding the blank parchment.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good…" Xavier whispered, and soon the map was filling itself in. "Shit, oh shit that's not good. He got nailed…"

Ginny, Hermione and Ron looked closely at where Xavier was pointing. In Dumbledore's office, they could see dots for Umbridge, Harry, Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge, Percy Weasley, Marietta Edgecombe, and Aurors Kingsley Shacklebolt and Dawlish.

No one spoke as they watched the map. After about fifteen minutes, Dumbledore's name disappeared. Everyone filed out of the office, and they saw Harry's dot rapidly moving towards them.

"It's all my fault!" Harry shouted "Dumbledore took the fall. Because the sheet said Dumbledore's Army!" Harry ran in, and Ginny grabbed him and hugged him tight. She was just glad he was okay. Not realizing her brother was watching her, Ginny held Harry close for almost a full minute, and he hugged her back.

Harry felt a little better, but realizing Ron was there, let her go, and he sat down on the nearest chair.

"What happened, Harry?" Hermione asked him. Harry then recounted the whole course of events in Dumbledore's office. Fudge interrogating him, Kingsley saving them by wiping Marietta's memory, and Dumbledore's fight and flight. When he finished, Hermione whispered sadly.

"This is bad. Really bad. Umbridge is going to be the new Headmistress. And who knows what kind of government backing she'll have now…"

_AN: I know this is a really large gap between updates. But I forgot about this story and just found it the other day. But I am going to finish the story so stay tuned._


	12. Life as We Knew it is Over…

**Chapter Twelve: Life as We Knew it is Over…**

Ron and Hermione were sitting alone in the Gryffindor common room. They were sitting together on one of the scarlet couches, waiting in silence for Harry and Xavier to return from their detentions. Neither had actually done anything wrong, but Headmistress Umbridge had requested a meeting with both of them after the last class of the day was over.

"I wonder what she wants from them…" Hermione was thinking out loud

"Probably just wants to make their lives miserable for having the guts to say he truth… She makes me sick to my stomach…" Ron responded angrily

"I wonder what's going to happen to the school with Dumbledore gone. Umbridge can do anything now…" Hermione stated sadly

"I'm sure everything will be okay…" Ron pulled Hermione into a comforting embrace, and she grabbed him tightly."

"Whoops… didn't mean to interrupt anything… My bad Ron." Xavier had walked in through the portrait hole, and Ron and Hermione's faces both turned a bright red.

"What did she want with you?" Ron and Hermione asked at the exact same time.

"Nothing much. She made me do some manual labor. She must really hate me. All because of the first day I was here. Kinda made a bad impression on her, I think." Xavier smiled for a brief second, but then a frown came to his face, and he continued. "But I'm not really sure what she wanted with Harry. She called him into her office. And he was still in there when I left. I could hear muffled voices, but I couldn't make out what they were talking about. But the witch sounded like she was pissed about something…"

"I knew it." Hermione interrupted. "She's trying to interrogate him."

"Huh?" Ron and Xavier both asked in unison. Neither got what Hermione was talking about.

"Think about it. She knows about Harry and Dumbledore. And she also knows that she almost caught Sirius in the fire earlier in the year. So she wants to force Harry to tell her where they are. Thankfully he can't because of the Fidelius on headquarters. And Dumbledore just won't be found…"

"I guess that makes sense… Do you think…? No she wouldn't… There's no way she could legally do that…" Xavier started to think out loud before Hermione interrupted him

"What? Use Veritaserum on Harry. I think that's exactly what she is going to do. But it won't get her anywhere." Hermione had a triumphant smile on her face as she said this.

"She didn't interrogate me, you're all paranoid." Harry entered the room with a smile on his face. "She just made me sit there, while she yelled at me for helping criminals and rebels. She was trying to make me feel guilty for what I'm doing, so I would tell her everything that she wanted to know. Like that worked…" Harry was almost laughing as he said this.

"Now that's the most impressive prank I have ever seen…" Xavier was standing in awe as he watched fireworks fly through the hall. He could hear students all over the school wowing over Fred and George's work. Xavier couldn't believe that Fred and George had the guts to let fireworks loose in the Hogwarts halls. He shuddered at the thought of what would happen to them if they were caught. Interrupting his thoughts was a giant Catherine wheel that rolled right by, causing Xavier to dive out of the way. Dusting himself off, Xavier bent down to pick up his hat, when he heard a voice screaming somewhere down the corridor.

"DON'T TRY TO STUN THEM FILCH!" Xavier couldn't suppress a laugh as he heard Umbridge shrieking, and unsuccessfully trying to get rid of Fred and George's work.

"You think this is funny, don't you? Well, you should think of what could happen to them if they're caught. They'll be expelled." Hermione had just gotten out of her Arithmacy class, and was shocked at the fireworks. They were in every color and design imaginable, and even she was impressed by the twins' work.

"Lighten up, Hermione. You enjoy watching the fireworks…" Xavier turned to face Hermione, and with a whisper added, "And watching Umbridge and Filch trying to deal with them…"

Hermione looked angry for a brief second, but then smiled, and said, "I guess you're right. They are rather beautiful aren't they? And it is fun watching the Headmistress…" Hermione said this word particularly venomously "deal with them… But we really should get to lunch."

Hermione and Xavier walked into the Great Hall for lunch, and saw Ron and Harry talking to Ernie MacMillan, Hufflepuff prefect.

"Hermione, Xavier. How are you?" Ernie shook both of their hands, before turning back to Harry and saying, "She's having quite a struggle with those fireworks. She tried to stun one, and then it just exploded in her face…"

"Well, the old hag deserves it…" Hermione started before she was interrupted by an unexpected individual.

"Do you really want to finish that sentence, Miss Granger?" Draco Malfoy asked her. "I think that will be ten points from Gryffindor for insulting our new Headmistress."

"You can't take points, Malfoy." Ernie spat. "Only teachers can take points. That would completely undermine the prefect system." He continued.

"Prefects can't take points. But members of the Inquisitorial Squad can." Seeing the puzzled looks on their faces, Malfoy smiled, and continued, "Certain trustworthy students picked by the new Headmistress have additional powers…" Malfoy showed them his new badge, a silver _I_, before adding, "So that will be ten points from Hufflepuff for contradicting me, ten from Potter because I don't like you, ten from Weasley because your shirt isn't tucked in, ten from the American cause he's well American, and I don't like him either. And ten more from the Mudblood. Have a good day, Potty. Weasel King. New head, new times." Malfoy walked away, leaving the enraged group behind

Xavier wanted to laugh. There was no way blatant corruption like that would be allowed in the House points system. But he heard a gasp from Hermione, and swears from Harry and Ron, and he turned and faced the hourglasses which kept track of the House points. The four Gryffindors and one Hufflepuff watched in shock as colored gems fell from their hourglasses. At the start of the day, all three houses had been far ahead of Slytherin. But they soon realized that Slytherin was tied for the lead with Ravenclaw, and Gryffindor was now in last. Realizing there was nothing they could do, they all went to their tables and sat down to lunch. But as soon as they sat down, they heard a familiar "Ahem, hem…" and turned around.

"Mr. Potter. Do you have any idea how much trouble these fireworks have caused me today? I know you were involved somehow…" Professor Umbridge was livid, and her face matched the ridiculous pink cardigan she was wearing.

"But Professor, I was in your office. I couldn't have set them off…" Harry stated simply before turning back to his meal.

"Then it was one of your friends… Mr. Dalton or Mr. Weasley then." Umbridge was desperate to punish someone as an example.

"Professor. None of us did it, or know who did it. So will you please leave us to our lunch? I'm hungry." Ron asked her.

"The three of you, up to my office now!" Umbridge shrieked.

"What did I do to deserve this?" Xavier mumbled and Umbridge apparently heard him because she shot him a death glare for a brief second.

"Can I at least bring a sandwich?" Ron asked meekly.

"NO! You may not bring up a sandwich!" Umbridge yelled. The three boys sadly followed her up to her office, but not before Ron silently summoned himself a sandwich for the walk. Harry and Xavier couldn't quite hold back a laugh, and Umbridge turned around quickly. Ron stuffed the sandwich into his mouth before she saw, and she turned around confused.

Walking through the hallways, Harry stared at all of the portraits on the stone walls. He watched as a bunch of old wizards played poker on one painting, and then looked at the next one, which showed a young witch picking a flower from a beautiful field. Harry almost forgot what he was doing before he was brought back to reality by the sound of Umbridge's office door opening, and Harry entered with his two friends. Harry took a second to view the pink, cat painting filled office that he hated so much, before sitting down in the last open chair.

"Gentlemen, what would you like to drink? Tea, coffee, milk…" Umbridge asked sweetly.

"I'll take a coffee, Professor. Please and thank you." Xavier asked with as much charisma as he could possibly muster. It wasn't nearly as much as he usually had. He had spent far too much time doing detentions for the woman to like her.

"Tea for me, please." Ron asked, although it was hardly understandable, as he was still trying to swallow his food from earlier.

"I'm not really thirsty, Professor." Harry stated. Umbridge frowned, before her "sweet" smile returned.

"Let's not play games, Harry dear. Now what would you like to drink?" Conceding, Harry asked for a cup of tea as well. Harry watched the professor closely as she poured the drinks, and she took forever to add the milk, and she had her back turned. Harry could hear Mad-Eye Moody's voice in his head telling him not to drink under any conditions.

"Drink up boys. You look thirsty." Umbridge was smiling. And with this, Harry got it. She was trying to drug them. Harry faked a large gulp. He could see Xavier and Ron about to drink, but he could do nothing to stop them.

"Now, who set off the fireworks earlier today?" She asked with a triumphant smile on her face.

"No clue." Xavier responded, looking right past the professor and focusing on a cat painting on the back wall of the office.

"I don't know either." Ron blurted out. Harry was worried about his friend cracking, but couldn't say anything before Umbridge continued her interrogation.

"Ok then you can tell me the location of Sirius Black. I know he was contacting you that night in the House fire."

"Sorry Professor." Harry stated. "I don't know where he is."

"Neither do we, Professor." Xavier spoke for himself, as well as Ron.

"Then tell me where Albus Dumbledore is. You three have been in with him since the beginning."

"Look, Professor. Stop asking us these stupid questions. You aren't going to get anything out of us, because we don't know anything. We're just a bunch of kids trying to get a damn education. So can we go back to dinner now? Please?" Xavier had snapped. Harry kicked him under the table to get him to shut up.

"Very well. Just remember boys, I have the might of the Ministry behind me. So tread carefully." Umbridge said slowly and confidently before opening her office door, and dismissing the three Gryffindors.

"We can still grab some dinner." Xavier whispered while glancing down at his watch.

"Important question for you two. Did you drink any of the stuff Umbridge gave us?"

"I had a sip… But her coffee tasted horrible. Why does it matter, Harry?" Xavier looked confused.

"I didn't have any. I really didn't feel like tea, but I didn't want to be rude." Ron said.

"It's important because…" Harry gave his friends a look as he spoke. "I think she slipped some Veritaserum into our drinks. That's why she was asking us those questions. And she was expecting to hear the truth. Good thing none of us drank…"

What?" Ron was pissed. "I'm going back there and giving her a piece of my mind." Ron took one step back towards Umbridge's office before Harry grabbed his robes.

"Are you honestly that thick? Imagine what she would do if you accused her of that? Even if it's true…" Harry was trying to talk some sense into Ron.

"He's right." Xavier hated that she could attempt to drug them without repercussions, but he knew that calling her on it would only lead to further trouble. "You gotta know when to keep your head down, and right now is when you just head down to dinner and let things go…"

Ron reluctantly turned around, and the three friends headed down to dinner in complete silence, each lost in their own thoughts…

"Harry, you look sad. What's up?" Ginny was looking into Harry's green eyes, and she could just tell that he was dealing with some internal troubles.

"No, not really. I'm just trying to figure out how to tell someone something that I'm not exactly sure I can say. But I have to…" Harry took a deep breath after responding. He started to sweat. He wished Xavier was sitting next to him, whispering the right things to say in his ear. And Ron wouldn't help him for obvious reasons. And Hermione would be really smug about it, if she even agreed to help him out. But Harry and Ginny were alone. Xavier was taking a walk to get away from Ron and Hermione, who were fighting again. Harry and Ginny had run to the library to get away from the yelling and screaming.

"Harry. You should just tell whoever it is whatever it is. You'll feel better that way." Ginny advised him. Harry didn't notice that Ginny was looking at him closely.

"Alright. Ginny… I…" Harry started to tell Ginny his feelings for her before he was interrupted. Again.

"Harry. Ginny. Just wanted to let you know that lunch has started. Oh, and Ron and Hermione are still fighting. Real surprise there." Xavier had popped his head into the library, and had seen his two friends sitting alone at a table. He quickly realized that maybe something was going on between the two of them. He had seen the chemistry before. He then felt bad for interrupting, and walked out as quickly as he had entered.

"Damn, the moment was ruined… Again." Harry thought to himself. "Shall we head down and get something to eat?" Harry asked Ginny. She nodded sadly, and they followed Xavier down to the Great Hall for lunch.

"And Davies scores, making the score 10-0 in favor of Ravenclaw" Harry and Xavier groaned. Ron had missed another save. It was the final game of the Quidditch season. Gryffindor needed a miracle to win the cup, and most people in the stands thought they were just playing for respect.

Xavier was completely taken in by the game, and didn't notice Harry and Hermione follow Hagrid out of the stadium.

"And Bradley now has the Quaffle. He dodges Spinnet, and Bell is taken out of the way by a Quaffle. Johnson is too far behind, and Bradley makes a move on the Keeper. He feints, and then shoots…" Xavier couldn't look. He couldn't bear to see Ron miss another save. He felt horrible for his friend. "And Weasley makes the fingertip save!" Lee Jordan, the commentator, was yelling. Xavier couldn't believe it. He looked up and saw a grinning Ron holding the Quaffle. Ron finally had his swagger back.

As the game progressed, it was clear that Ron's save was not a miracle, but rather the confidence boost he had desperately needed. Ravenclaw was piling shots up on Ron, but he kept stopping them. Many of the saves were one-handed, or even one-footed. And the rest of the team was playing with a new attitude. The Beaters knocked out one of the Ravenclaw chasers, and Gryffindor was scoring goal after goal. After an hour, the score was 250-40 in favor of Gryffindor. Xavier was sitting in the stands in utter shock and confusion. He had just realized that if Ginny caught the Snitch, Gryffindor would win the Quidditch cup. But they would come in third if Cho Chang caught it for Ravenclaw, which would win the Cup for Slytherin. And then Ginny zoomed out of nowhere and caught the Snitch right next to an oblivious Cho. And after a brief minute of emptiness because of the abrupt, stunning, ending of the game, the Gryffindor section of the stands erupted into pandemonium. Scarlet and gold clad students were flooding the field, and mobbed their championship team. Before he knew it, Xavier happily saw that Ron had been hoisted up on the shoulders of the crazier fans, and the whole house filed out of the stadium, singing a slightly modified version of "Weasley is Our King."

It was at this point that Xavier noticed Harry and Hermione running towards them. Harry ran like lightning past Xavier and the other boy knew immediately where he was going.

"Harry. We did it. We won the Cup." A breathless Ginny could be heard yelling over the noise to Harry. Harry grabbed her and pulled her into a congratulatory embrace. His could just feel that this was the perfect moment. Harry thought at the current moment, Ginny was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Her windswept fire red hair and her soft brown eyes made Harry melt as he held her in his arms. Harry tilted her head to face his own, and he leaned in for the kiss he had been waiting for…

"HEY HARRY! WE DID IT! WE WON THE CUP! LOOK!" Ron yelled over the crowd noise.

"Aww hell… Not again…" Harry thought angrily to himself. He just hoped Ron hadn't noticed the somewhat compromising position he was currently in with his best mate's little sister. He was really confused. Harry's heart told him to kiss the breath out of Ginny. Harry's brain was telling him to go and congratulate Ron. But his heart won…

And before he knew it, he was kissing Ginny. Time froze, and Harry didn't notice anyone around the two of them. He had his hands in her hair, and the kiss was soft and tender, and yet passionate at the same time. Ginny was running her hands through Harry's messy black hair. Harry realized that this was what kissing someone was supposed to feel like, not the teary, odd, awkward affair it had been when he kissed Cho under the mistletoe. Harry thought that it just felt so right. He couldn't really put a description on the feeling, but he could feel his stomach doing continuous back flips.

After what had only seemed like a single, perfect moment to Harry, they slowly broke away from each other. As Harry held Ginny in his arms, he realized that their kiss had been a lot longer than just a moment. Ginny pulled him closer and whispered in his ear.

"Harry…" and before Harry could say anything, she continued. "I've been waiting for that moment since I was eleven." Ginny was breathless as she said this. She was shocked that Harry finally had feelings for her. After all the years of barely noticing her, Harry finally felt the same for her as she did for him.

"And I've wanted to do that ever since that day I chased you through the snow and Ron yelled at us." Harry responded with the lightest whisper, it was barely audible. Harry felt a tap on his shoulder.

"I'm happy for you two, but I'm not sure Ron is… He ran off when you guys started… well you know… and Hermione followed him. If anyone can talk some sense into him it's her." Xavier had appeared out of nowhere and gave Harry a slap on the back.

"Shit, I thought that was going to happen. Ah, guess I'll have to go talk to him." Harry said.

"And I'm coming with you." Ginny added.

"Alright, Ill see you guys in the common room later then. That's going to be a fun conversation with Ron by the way. Real fun." Xavier walked off, and Harry and Ginny stood there for another five minutes, just enjoying each other's company, before following Xavier back to the Gryffindor common room.

"What do you mean it's the best for both of them? Ginny just has a little girl crush on Harry from those stupid stories Mum used to tell her. And I have no fucking clue what Harry feels about her!" Ron was yelling at Xavier and Hermione in the Gryffindor common room. Ron was standing, pacing, clearly stressed out. Xavier was sitting with his feet up on one of the couches, trying to appear disinterested. And Hermione was following Ron around the room. Everyone else in the house had intelligently cleared out, anticipating the explosion that was coming. But they all had pairs of Fred and George's Extendable Ears. Not they had needed them so far. Ron's hundred decibel yells easily carried to the dormitories.

"Look, bro. You gotta relax. They're going to come back soon. And Harry seems genuine. I talked to him about it." Xavier was telling a little white lie to help back his friend out of a corner.

"So let me get this straight? You knew about this, and you didn't fucking tell me?" Ron was getting even louder and redder in the face, if it was humanly possible to do so.

"Well yea. Harry wanted to be the one to tell you." Xavier responded coolly.

"Yeah he did a great job of that."

"Listen Ron; just give Harry and Ginny a chance. The chemistry is there." Hermione added her opinion into the discussion. Just before Ron was about to yell at her, Harry and Ginny walked through the portrait hole, smiling and holding hands.

"Potter. Ginny." Ron spat.

"Since when have you called me Potter?" Harry asked, slowly loosing his cool. Ron wasn't even going to give him a chance to speak before judging the two of them.

"Since you started hitting on my sister..." Ron was raising his voice as he spoke each word. Harry was silent for a minute. He didn't know what to say. But thankfully he didn't have to speak.

"Ronald Bilius Weasley. You have no right to do this. You should be happy for your best friend. Not to mention your little sister." Ginny had taken over the fight. And quite well Harry thought. Ron momentarily had no answer for this, and he looked from Harry to Ginny, to Hermione, and then to Xavier, before he realized that he was clearly on the minority side. Hermione and Xavier clearly supported Harry and Ginny. He wasn't surprised, but he was still angry.

"I… Well it's clear that the two of you…" Ron glared at Hermione and Xavier. "support this. So I guess I have to, for now at least. But Harry. If you ever hurt her, you better hope you can take a curse. Seven or eight of them." Ron said with as much venom as he could muster.

"Don't worry. I won't. I care too much for her to do that. And if on the off chance I do, I'll let you and your brothers' deal with me." Harry responded. "Thanks for giving me this chance, Ron." Harry patted his confused and distressed friend on the shoulder, before sitting back down with Ginny.

The next week or so was somewhat awkward for the entire group. Ron was struggling to deal with the fact Harry and Ginny were dating. This made things tense between him and Hermione, because he would go off at the littlest thing, and they would fight often. That meant that since Harry and Ginny wanted a lot of alone time, Xavier was the new Harry, in that he would be trying to mediate the Ron/Hermione fights. He wasn't very good at it. But as the week progressed, and Ron started to accept what he couldn't change, he embraced Harry as his best friend again Saturday morning. That night, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Xavier, and Ginny were the last people in the Gryffindor common room, sitting silently watching the fire die. Harry and Ginny were sharing his favorite chair and she was sitting on his lap. He was absentmindedly stroking her hair while she was finishing her Charms reading for the night. Ron and Hermione were sharing a couch. Ron was tossing a practice Quaffle to himself repeatedly, and Hermione was reviewing for the upcoming O.W.L exams. Xavier was sitting and cleaning off his favorite Boston Red Sox hat. It had been accumulating dirt, and this annoyed him. But he quickly got bored, and brought the first thing he could think of up for conversation,

"Well, its been an odd last three weeks or so, hasn't it?" Everyone was startled to hear someone talking. It had been silent for nearly twenty minutes or so.

"Yeah, I guess it has. With Dumbledore leaving, and Umbridge taking over. And Ron turning into the House Quidditch hero. And Grawp…" Harry agreed.

"Don't forget me, Harry." Ginny whispered in his ear.

"How could I forget. The best thing that's happened to me in awhile…" Harry gave Ginny a quick kiss. They both laughed, and Ron had pointedly looked away.

"But not all these changes are good. As happy as you two are together." Hermione abruptly brought Harry and Ginny back to reality. "We are in serious trouble. Both inside and outside Hogwarts. So we have to be careful." Harry didn't realize how right Hermione was. There was another brief silence, before Ron summed up the crazy series of events.

"Guys, I hate to say it, but… Life as we knew it is over."

_AN: I know that Ron's reaction to Harry and Ginny wasn't exactly canon, but I figured that since Ron hasn't dated Lavender yet, he'll be jealous and take it out on Harry. Three or four chapters left for OOTP. Then I'm going to start on HBP. Hope you like my story so far. Please drop a review. They're appreciated._


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